Cappadocia is a region in central Turkey. This is one of the regions or provinces of ancient Anatolia. The proposed route includes the three major towns in the area (Nevsehir, Avanos and Ürgüp) in addition to the outdoor museum of Goreme or zelva, and the towns of Uçhisar and Çavusin.

We visited a strange landscape, and in some ways suggestive. We are located southeast of Ankara, about four hours by car. Start the route through the city of Nevsehir, the provincial capital, and that means the gateway to the region of Cappadocia. At the top of the castle is the Seljuk Mosque and Kursunlu. This Mosque is part of a complex of buildings including a school of theology, a hospice and a library. At the fountain of ablutions in the garden still retains an ancient inscription. Many years ago, the volcanoes of Erciyes Mountain (3.916 meters above sea level) and Hasan (3.268) covered the area of lava and ash. The wind and rain have eroded the rocks and created a spectacular landscape of conical rocks of different colors, from warm reds and yellows to grays and greens.

Urgup, will visit the second city, is a resort at the foot of a rock that represents the perfect place to stay. In Urgup, one can still see how people lived in houses carved in the rock. One of the main attractions is a visit to the stores and posts where you can buy carpets and kilims. For its part, has an Avanos old we moved to other times, with streets full of shops, bars and Turkish baths next to river. Some purchases can be made in this town are ceramics pottery y. The tourist infrastructure of the area is very basic, so even the hotels that are proclaimed as the best in the area are far from the standards.

Apart from these populations, the region offers a number of places that have become open-air museums. Goreme National Park was known in Roman times as Cappadocia. During the Byzantine era, the chapels and monasteries were pierced in the rock and there are still echoes of it in the landscape. The name of Goreme is associated with old houses, which have become a tourist attraction. The outdoor museum is a monastic complex of churches and chapels with frescoes and is one of the most visited sites in the area. Almost all are dated chapel X of the XIII century, and many of them have cross plan with a central dome supported on four columns. Chapel These stresses Elmali church, the smallest of the group and recent addition to the churches Yilanli, Barbara and Carikli.

Uçhisar, our next step is a mountain pierced formerly a village in the Byzantine period and Turkish. Today, however, is abandoned. In Çavusin, north of Goreme, you can see a triple apse church and monastery of San Juan Bautista. In the village you can also see in houses uninhabited rock, churches and chapels. From here we will go to zelva, a place where it is dangerous to visit the churches, because the soil has become very unstable over time due to erosion.

Zelva is also seen as open-air museum. Its extension is great. The village is to depopulate the early twentieth century, because of an earthquake. Similarly, you can visit many villages in the area underground. Kaimakli highlights of all of them on the road to a Derinkiyu Nevsehir. The origin of these settlements excavated in the tufa manually is difficult to determine, although it is known they had a great development between VI and X centuries after Christ, where were refuges for Christians in the times of Arab and Persian invasions. Kaimakli has eight levels and a known depth of 45 meters. Half can be accessed.

Relate the beauty of these landscapes were abandoned is quite complex. A visit allows us to get an idea just those moments that lived its glory.

Today is one of the most interesting tourist attractions of central Turkey, which in future is likely to become one of the preferred destinations for many of today dream of traveling at the time as possible to the country between Europe and Asia.