CAPPADOCIA
Visit the sculptures of time and history!
Cappadocia Cappadocia, an ancient Greek word derived from the Persian: Kaptatouka, meaning "the country of beautiful horses," is one of the largest areas of eastern Asia Minor. The mysterious, fairy-tale land of Cappadocia for centuries now magnetizes conquerors and visitors. Its elaborate territorial peculiarity is due to a multitude of volcanic eruptions that occurred millions of years ago and created this unique relief. Its famous cave dungeons were first inhabited by people of the Neolithic age, and later, centuries later, sheltered thousands of chased Christians who lived in them creating monuments of a distinct religious culture. In addition to the abundant natural landscape, the area is full of idyllic residences, elaborate churches and impressive monasteries. Everything is carved in labyrinthine caves and are unique examples of civilization in the early Christian era. The area of two kinds of monuments is characterized as unique: of nature and Christian. They are largely identified as thousands of churches are carved in its soft volcanic rocks and the world-famous cones known as mushrooms are scattered in its valleys - sculptures of weather, water and wind. Approximately 3,000 of the cave churches are counted, apart from the dozens of others, the entire builders, which are preserved in villages and towns, wildly abandoned or elementarily protected, unless they have been turned into mosques. Most of the dungeons were created within two centuries, from around 850, when the raids of the Arabs finally ended, but also the period of Iconoclasm, which had not suffered less the Empire until 1071, when, with the historic defeat in Matzikert , a large part of Asia Minor was conquered by Seljuks. During these two centuries of peace and pictorial boiling, the caves with hagiographies were decorated, many of which came to us - valuable and unique examples of the art of the ages. Not only churches, but also thousands of houses, monasteries, skeletons, warehouses, pigeons, even entire states, hidden, on seven and ten floors in the stone and in kilometrious extent, has been cast for centuries by raid Cappadocian man. In Anakos (Kaimakli), Malakopi (Drinikogiou) and in many other places there are, and today are displayed, to the demented visitors, hide-and-seek, where thousands of people lived for months or even thousands of years. As it is natural, the area is experiencing rapid tourist growth and the new standard hotel units that stand out stand out, one that comes in complete architectural harmony with the landscape, thus covering the aesthetics of the most demanding visitor. |