Cappadociya blog

9. Cappadocia Festivals
Cappadocia not only treats visitors to a magical landscape; it also lets them make merry through various festivals at certain times of the year. These festivals include:

Cappadox: This festival has been around since 2015, and it blends local and international contemporary art with gastronomy, music, and other outdoor programs. It is hosted in June for a couple of days.
Cappadocia Music Festival: This week-long festival showcases various choirs and orchestras. It is held in unique settings, including Byzantine churches, hidden courtyards, and caves, filling the Cappadocian air with the sweet sounds of classical music. The Cappadocia Music Festival is held in July.
Balloon Fest Cappadocia: This event is held over four days in July and celebrates Cappadocia’s hot air ballooning tradition. It is entirely free, and the only charges are for parking on the event site. The event showcases the fantastic sight of over 100 balloons filling the Cappadocian sky, and revelers enjoy fairground rides, trade stands, and entert

UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Due to the massive impact, that man has had on Cappadocia’s landscape, certain sections of the region are UNESCO world heritage sites. These include the Goreme Open Air Museum, which is the most visited section of Cappadocia. The museum, rock sites of Cappadocia, and the adjacent Aktepe were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1985.

All of the mentioned sites are places of outstanding universal value since they provide evidence of Byzantine art and are home to the remains of an ancient human habitat that dates back to the 4th century.

The village of Goreme is one of the few settlements in Cappadocia that is still inhabited to date and serves as the area’s main tourist center. The town has had a total of three names throughout its history. When it was established, the town was called Avcilar, which means hunters. Later on, it was called Maccan before arriving at its current name, Goreme.

The name Goreme means “one cannot see in here,” which refers to the way Christians hid in the area from Arabs during the invasion. The retreating Christians found hiding places in the many underground cities of the area.

About 60 million years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions disrupted the landscape of central Anatolia.

The result of the volcanic eruption led to magical rock formations. They are known as Cappadocia fairies or Cotton Castles. Constant wind and water erosion polished the soft rocks.

These rocks were formed after thick ash solidified into tuffs. They turned into fairylike chimneys that stand at about 130 feet high.

The shapes of these rocks may change in the next century since wind and water slowly erodes them.

This name has been used since the late 6th century BC. The first record of this name was by kings, Darius I and Xerxes. It was one of the countries that made up the Persian empire.

The locals called it Katpatuka, a name from the Luwian language meaning low country. It was also known as the land of good horses by Iranians.

Persian and Assyrian Kings would receive gifts and tributes of horses. The horses were part of the taxes paid to the Persian government.

Horses are still valued by the locals to date. It is also used as a mode of transport by visitors.

Cappadocia was once an ancient district in east-central Anatolia. It is located along the rocky plateau in the centre of present-day Turkey.

The landscape of the place has dramatic stretches of soft volcanic rocks. The shapes of these rocks were a result of constant wind erosion. This has resulted in towers, cones, valleys and caves.

Some churches were carved from the rocks, underground cities and tunnels. These structures date back to the Byzantine and Islamic eras.