It was awe-inspiring to visit the land of fairies, Cappadocia. … for its seemingly extraterrestrial landscape and underground cities.
The land of fairies is in a small area in Central Turkey which has a unique, almost surreal, landscape. This area is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Travelling to Cappadocia is a lesson which teaches you what mother nature can do to the earth. It is also a dreamy journey into physical geography and geology.
Past volcanic activities formed a plateau of ash and the strange, rugged rock formations were created by the forces of erosion. These formations are known as “fairy chimneys” as the early inhabitants of the region believed that humans could not have built them, and as fairies lived underground, they must be the chimneys sticking out.
The unusual structures were created through erosion of rain, wind and temperature fluctuations. Various forms of rock formations such as cones were formed as the softer ash layers eroded faster than the harder layers of basalt which remained on top capping the conical structures underneath.
The tuff ash was easy to work with primitive tools and many cave dwellings and churches were cut into the cones and valley walls.
Starting 1968 when Eric Van Daniken, in his book “Chariots of the Gods”, alluded to the idea of aliens presence on earth, authors have suggested that Cappadocia may have been formed as a result of a nuclear war waged by extraterrestrials in the area. It was also quipped that part of Star Wars was filmed with this area as a backdrop.
Yes, we can stretch our imagination as much as we can. However, I rather want to leave Cappadocia with a memory that it is a land of fairies, not wars.
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