At the heart of Turkey lies a wonderful region of underground cities and ancient rock formations, some of them renovated and turned into hotels.

But let’s make a little history, to understand it better and better, since thousands of years ago great civilizations like the Hittites, Persians, Romans and Byzantines occupied the Turkish region of Cappadocia, an area that left little of their culture so that visitors can dazzle.

Site characteristics:

Cappadocia’s geological features are what make it unique and unrepeatable in the world, so named Unesco World Heritage Site in 1985. After millions of years of erosion, land of the place (tuff) has taken strange and peculiar ways, creating towers and roofed surfaces of the stone itself.

Many local people built their homes (just digging into the rock), instead of constructing buildings from scratch. In this way the landscapes are very distinctive: large rock formations with windows and corridors where people live, while retaining a style of cave. In the region of Cappadocia are the cities of Aksaray Nevseshir and numerous smaller towns and very close to each other.

Underground cities are the protagonists in this area: Kaymakli, Urgup and Derinkuyu are cities carved into the rock and have up to 8 floors underground, vertical bridges, rooms, kitchens, chapels, stairs and passageways. These cities can be visited, although many of its corners are reserved for archaeological and anthropological research since the ancient inhabitants had equipped with vents, water wells and stables.

Accommodations of Cappadocia:

One of the peculiarities of the area hotels are carved into the rock, where you can spend the night with the best facilities and first class service.

Kelebek Hotel,  one of the most popular of Goreme for being located in the historic center of town and have an impressive view. Until 1993 Kelebek was a family house, built with a combination of rooms carved into the stone and brick built later with the same stone. But the site’s history dates back to prehistory when the volcano Mt Erciyes erupted and the effects of erosion on the lava created the two chimneys which own the hotel.

Kelebek has 31 rooms in total; the suites in the caves are carved into the stone furniture, bathrooms with marble walls and sheets made by local artisans.

Another hotel is Yunak that has 6 houses in the caves with 30 private rooms and a Greek, style mansion of the nineteenth century. The caves are decorated with antiques and crafts, yet maintain the traditional Ottoman style. All rooms, which is reached by narrow stone corridors, have their own patios overlooking the landscape of Cappadocia. The amenities are Wi Fi, computers and TV with DVD and CD collection gives a modern look to this ancient hotel.

Gamirasu Cave Hotel, is considered one of the best in the country, opened in 1999, is a collection of seven old houses with 18 rooms, some of which were actually monk cells, widely used by Christian monks.

The amenities and services have free access to Wi-Fi and have excellent gourmet restaurant complete the hotel offers.

Bon voyage of Cappadocia!