Cappadocia
Cappadocia, which used to be known as Katpatuka (Land of Beautiful Horses) in old Persian, is a region in central Anatolia, 300 kilometers southeast of Ankara, the capital city of modern-day Turkey.
Cappadocia is known for its unusual landscape, the result of the violent eruption of volcanoes, Mount Erciyes (3,917 meters) and Mount Hasan (3,268 meters), some 3 million years ago. Lava and volcanic dust and ashes covered the region, which eventually hardened into a thick layer of tuff. Over the years, water and wind eroded the soft and brittle volcanic surface, creating deep valleys and many different types of strange rock formations, such as rock cones and fairy chimneys.
Archaeological evidence shows that Cappadocia was inhabited as early as the Paleolithic period (c. 2.5 million BCE –10,000 BCE), and continued to serve as home to the peoples of many different civilizations, including the Hittites, Greeks, and the Romans. Dwellings were dug into the rocks and provided shelter from the environment, defense against foreign invasions, and refuge from religious persecution. These dwellings interconnect, forming some two hundred to three hundred underground cities, equipped with elaborate air ventilation systems, water storage units, and in some cases, even stables and wineries. One of the most famous and well excavated is Kaymakli, where Christians hid from the pagan Roman invaders during the seventh century.
Parts of the underground cities are still used by Cappadocia's present-day inhabitants. For example, underground canals are used to regulate water in the nearby farmland, and local produce, such as potatoes and citrus fruits, is stored in subterranean storage units. People still live in above-ground rock structures, some of which are even used as hotels and inns. Cappadocia is a popular tourist destination, with over a million foreign visitors in 1997.
Junhee Kim
Further Reading
Demir, Omer. (1995) Cradle of Civilization Cappadocia. Chennai, India: International Society of the Investigation of Ancient Civilizations.
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