The history of Cappadocia has to begin with the geological background. A very long time ago a series of eruptions from the cones of Mt. Erciyes and Mt. Hasan covered the area in a thick layer of volcanic ash which solidified to form the soft tufa that characterizes the surface strata. These volcanic mountains dominate the landscape today. Erciyes offers reasonable skiing in the winter.

The processes of erosion started the work of carving out valleys and gorges and continue to this day. The signature of the region, the 'fairy chimney' is formed when a cap of resilient stone protects the column of softer material beneath it while the surrounding tufa is removed. The area is now a warren of caves, underground cities, rock churches and chambers and it's almost certain that there are more such sites waiting to be rediscovered.

Cappadocia makes its first entrance into history courtesy of Heroditus, writing in the 5th Century BC but it is with the advent of Christianity that it becomes of interest to the average contemporary tourist. Christianity came early to the region with St. Paul passing through on his way to Ancyra (Ankara) and 3 Saints originating here in the 4th Century.

Turkey Tour 2006

The remote and sometimes harsh nature of the landscape and climate here appealed to the early Anchorites who preferred an ascetic existence in which hardship brought them closer to God. These individuals formed loose knit communities which allowed them to benefit from a social structure, but retain their individuality. These communities were formalized as a result of St. Basil's pronouncements on the rules of monastic life in the 4th Century and slowly grew over the next few hundred years

The arrival of Arab raiding parties in Anatolia in the 7th and 8th centuries drove the monks underground and they took local Christian communities with them forming the underground cities you can explore today, several of which are staggering in their scale. The Christian communities dwindled after the Turks arrived in Asia Minor and local inhabitants moved into the more convenient of the excavations that were left behind. Cappadocia effectively vanished from the point of view of the West until it was rediscovered by a French Jesuit priest in 1907.

The frescoes that many tourists come to see can be divided up into Pre and Post-Iconoclastic. The earlier works rely entirely on symbolism to communicate their messages and may look childish and simple in comparison to later works. Their form is a result of the early church's disapproval of the portrayal of the human form in religious art. The works which postdate the resolution of the Iconoclastic controversy (mid 9th Century) are much more figurative. It is interesting to compare them and realize that both styles are telling the same stories of Christ and the Saints. It is very difficult to find a section of fresco work that hasn't been damaged, usually maliciously and the root of this lies partly in the abhorrence of representations of the human form felt by strict Muslims at various times over the last half millennia. Another story is local maidens believed that the blue eyes of the figures in the frescoes, if removed and powdered, could be incorporated to make a powerful love potion.