Cappadocia is situated in the middle of Turkey, in central Anatolia. The three popular towns are mostly known as the region of Goreme, Urgup and Uchisar but actually, it is the name of the very big region spread through the cities of Nevsehir, Kirsehir, Nigde, Aksaray and Kayseri.

So we can say that Cappadocia can be considered as “Five Cities, One Cappadocia”

     Cappadocia is situated about 3 hour’s drive from the capital Ankara. There are two airports in the zone. The first one is the Nevsehir (NAV) Airport, and the other one is Kayseri/Erkilet (ASR) Airport.

Brief History About Cappadocia

     Cappadocia has also been home to many civilizations since the stone age throughout history. Using the advantage of this structure of the region, many rock-cut settlements, houses, monasteries, churches, chapels and underground cities were built. This is how most of the fairy chimneys are located inside.

     Today’s formations in the region that can easily be carved, so-called fairy chimneys by locals, allow the inhabitants to make rock-cut cave houses and underground cities and have become a real shelter during the repressive eras. All these were built in an invisible way to hide the people living here during the period, especially from the pressure, persecution and invasion of the Roman Empire and became the living space of a hundred thousand people.

     If we have a quick look at the history of Cappadocia, we see that the region was active during the Hittites period. Since it was located on the historical Silk Road route, the region was a kind of commercial centre at that time. It continues until the fall of the Hittites in the 12th century BC. Afterwards, the Persians in the 6th century BC, the Kingdom of Cappadocia during the time of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and the Roman Empire reigned in the region until 17 AD. When the last King of Cappadocia died in 17 AD, the region becomes a Roman province. After the settlement of the Christians here in the 3rd century AD, the region became a centre of education, religion and thought. However, between the years 303-308, the pressure of the Roman Empire increased and the people make shelters and settlements carved into the rocks in the deep valleys, that are invisible from the outside. Again during the 11th and 12th centuries, Arab raids dominated the region, and then the Seljuks. Peace was dominant in the region during the Ottoman Empire, and after the Treaty of Lausanne, the Christians migrated and left Cappadocia between the years 1924-1926.