Blog Cappadociya

Cappadocia is one of the best-known places in the world for hot air balloon rides. That’s because the scenic beauty in the region is stunning, and the flying conditions are excellent.

Cappadocia is a massive historical region in the central Anatolian region largely in the Nevsehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, and Niğde provinces in Turkey. It consists of a series of underground cities and villages that are scattered throughout the region.


A new place has been discovered in the Nevsehir Province by demolition workers at the time of excavation for a housing project. It consists of a network of rooms and tunnels. Numerous underground settlements like galleries, hidden churches, waterways, fountains, living rooms, kitchens, staircases and even wineries and oil presses have been discovered. Government officials say that the size and features of this new discovery could be larger than Derinkuyu, the largest excavated underground city in Cappadocia. Cappadocia is one of Turkey’s tourism capitals due to its rocky terrains, unique culture, and history.

Cappadocia Facts
Cappadocia Location in Turkey


Cappadocia spans an area of about 5,000 square kilometers. It is situated between three provinces namely Nevşehir, Kayseri, and Niğde in Turkey.

Soft Rock Formation in Cappadocia
The place was buried in ash and lava due to volcanic eruptions several years ago. These geological formations or volcanic sediments were eroded by the rains and strong winds and later solidified into soft rocks known as tuffs which are several feet thick. The erosion created bizarre landscape formations such as domes, mushroom-like pillars called fairy chimneys and pinnacles that are seen today.

Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia
The volcanic rocks of Cappadocia are well-suited for the formation of fairy chimneys and pyramids due to their soft textures. The fairy chimneys vary in height and can reach as high as 40 meters.

Cappadocia Agriculture
The area is an extremely fertile land and apricots, pumpkins, melons, sugarcane, beets and chickpeas are grown here. It is also a major producer of grapes.

Cappadocia Roman Empire
The Cappadocia region was once a part of the Roman empire.

4. The Best Views
It’s no doubt that Cappadocia looks great, and exploring the area exposes some stunning sights. Nonetheless, for the best view of the region in all its glory, take a hot air balloon flight across the Cappadocian skies. From the air, the region’s moonscape topography offers one of the most unforgettable sights.

It is no wonder that hot air ballooning in Cappadocia attracts up to more than a million tourists annually. Over 100 hot air balloons take to the skies during the morning, which is spectacular scenery. Therefore, if you want to enjoy the most scenic views of the rock-cut churches and fairy chimneys, a hot air balloon flight is a no-brainer.

Cappadocia Goreme Buckle Church Painted with Lapis Lazuli
5. The Carved Churches
Cappadocia is also famous for its strong historical connection to medieval times, as shown by the rock-cut churches scattered across the land. These churches number up to 600, and there is a possibility that many more are yet to be discovered. The chapels were carved into the soft Cappadocian rock by monks in the dark ages, and some of them retain their original impressive frescoes with amazing detail.

Nonetheless, some of the paintings have been damaged by extensive erosion and superstitious locals who scratched out the eyes of some of the figures due to fear of the Evil Eye. The most visited churches are found in Goreme Open Air Museum, while others are in Zelve, Rose Valley, and Red Valley.

Cappadocia Underground Cities
6. Underground Cities
Hidden beneath Cappadocia’s exquisite landscape are over 50 underground cities. These subterranean towns were carved into the soft volcanic rock thousands of years ago and have hosted different inhabitants over the years. Some of them extend up to eight levels into the earth. An interesting fact about these cities is that they contained all the necessary facilities to lead an everyday life.

These cities had everything a typical town would have, from wine presses to cooking places, oil storage, and livestock pens. The underground cities served as a haven for Christians escaping persecution by Arabs. There are underground cities at Ozkonak, Mazikoy, Kaymakli, Derinkuyu, and several other places.

Amazing Cave Town Goreme Cappadocia
7. Goreme
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.

Cappadocia is a land famous for its distinctive rock formation, historical heritage, and scenic hot air balloon trips. Sitting in Central Anatolia, this historical region attracts crowds of tourists from all over the world. The area is such a popular destination that in 2019, it drew a total of 3.8 million foreign tourists.

So, if you are planning to be one of the millions of visitors that will tour this magical land this year, here are ten interesting facts you might want to know about the place.

Wild Horses Cappadocia Name
1. The Made-up Name Comes in from the Cold
Whereas Cappadocia is famous today for its otherworldly topography and a strong connection to the past, the region was known for something else altogether in ancient times; horses. Even the name itself, Cappadocia, is derived from the Persian word “Katpatuka”, meaning the land of beautiful horses. Ancient sources mention gifts or tributes of horses from the region presented to ancient Assyrian and Persian kings.

When Cappadocia was under Persian governance, horses were part of the taxes paid. The locals today still value horses, which sometimes offer visitors an alternative mode of transport.

Unique Geological Formations at Red Valley in Cappadocia
2. Rock Formations and the Landscape
The Cappadocian region was formed during the tertiary period around 60 million years ago after a sequence of volcanic eruptions hit Central Anatolia. The eruptions formed what is known today as the fairy chimneys and many others. The famous stunning landscape of Cappadocia was formed by volcanic erosion.

Volcanic eruptions that formed Cappadocia rained ash across the region. With time, the ash hardened into the tuff, which was covered by basalt. Tuff, soft and porous, wore down as the millennia passed, forming pillars up to 130 feet high. Basalt is harder and erodes slowly; therefore, it created a mushroom-shaped cap over each pillar. The results of this million years process are the iconic fairy chimneys of Cappadocia.

Rock Cut Churches Cappadocia Dark Church
3. Inhabitants
Cappadocia has had human settlers since the Paleolithic Era. Between 2500 to 2000 BCE, the Hatti culture called this region home and was closely followed by the Hittites, who settled here around 2000 BCE. The Assyrians also established trading posts in Cappadocia at around the same time. From 1250 BCE, the region has changed rulers from Phrygians and Persians to the Romans in 17 CE. In medieval times, the area was home to Christian communities and people escaping religious persecution, and thus, the inhabitants led a monastic way of life for a thousand years.

Cappadocia Vocabulary
Formation: structure
Columns: pillars
Invade: enter and take over
Survive: endure, live through
Boulder: large rocks

Learn More All About Cappadocia, Natural Wonder in Turkey
Rooms in the Underground City of Cappadocia Image
The underground cities had everything needed to live, including pipes for fresh air, toilets, rooms to store food and wine and even places to keep animals.
Check out this awesome video all about Cappadocia:

A video trip to Cappadocia, a rocky landscape created by 3 volcanoes.

Cappadocia Q&A
Question: How long have people lived here?

Answer: The Hittites first settled here about 3,800 years ago.

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Question: When did people build the underground cities?

Answer: Early Christians began building the cities 400 years after Christ’s death because the Romans persecuted them.



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EARTH SCIENCE, NATURAL WONDERS
Victoria Falls – The World’s Largest Waterfall
Victoria Falls image
In Africa, on the borders of Zimbabwe and Zambia, sits the world’s largest waterfall, Victoria Falls. It is 1 mile wide and 360 feet high.
In Africa, on the borders of Zimbabwe and Zambia, sits the world’s largest waterfall, Victoria Falls. Victoria Falls was named by a Scottish missionary and explorer, Dr. David Livingstone for Queen Victoria, the queen of England at the time. It is 1 mile wide and 360 feet high.

The Zambezi River is the fourth largest river in Africa, running over 1,600 miles from its source to the sea. Along the way, it passes through the countries of Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Between the borders of Zimbabwe and Zambia, the river plunges more than 350 feet. Here is Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall in the world.

Victoria Falls Image - Science for Kids All About Victoria Falls
In Africa, on the borders of Zimbabwe and Zambia, sits the world’s largest waterfall, Victoria Falls. It is 1 mile wide and 360 feet high.
When you visit Victoria Falls, you’ll see a lot of mist rising from the falls. The falls are also called Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means “smoke that thunders.” Victoria Falls is protected by two national forests. Lots of wildlife lives near the falls, including elephants and hippos.

During the rainy season, 300,000 gallons of water pour over the falls every second. During this season, spray from the falls shoots over 1,000 feet in the air. The surrounding rain forest experiences constant rainfall from the spray.

Visiting Cappadocia in Turkey is like going to another planet. Hundreds of volcanic rock formations look like fairy houses. Tall columns are topped with domed roofs. Some of the formations go straight up, resembling chimneys.

People have lived in Cappadocia for thousands of years. Greeks and Romans invaded this country, but the Cappadocians survived. Many were early Christians who spread the gospel. They built underground cities to hide from invaders. They built traps in their underground cities. Large boulders hid doors. They built holes in the ceilings to drop spears on their enemies. They made small passageways through their cities.

Close Up of Cappadocia Image - Science for Kids All About Cappadocia
Cappadocia is near the city of Nevşehir in southeast of Ankara, the capital of Turkey. You can see here Hundreds of volcanic rock formations look like fairy houses. Know more interesting facts all about Cappadocia below.
Fun Facts about Cappadocia for Kids
Today you can see houses, churches and temples, cut into the rocks.
Even regular houses are made out of rock.
It is hot in the summer here and cold during the winter.
The ancient people had homes above ground. Each home was connected to the underground city by a tunnel. If invaders came, the people hurried through the tunnels to hide underground.
The underground cities had everything needed to live, including pipes for fresh air, toilets, rooms to store food and wine and even places to keep animals.

Neolithic pottery and tools found in Cappadocia attest to an early human presence in the region. Excavations at the modern town of Kültepe have uncovered the remains of the Hittite-Assyrian city of Kanesh, dating from the 3rd millennium BCE. The tens of thousands of clay tablets recovered from the remains of an Assyrian merchant colony at Kanesh are among the oldest written documents discovered in Turkey.

Cappadocia, ancient district in east-central Anatolia, situated on the rugged plateau north of the Ta**us Mountains, in the centre of present-day Turkey. The boundaries of the region have varied throughout history. Cappadocia’s landscape includes dramatic expanses of soft volcanic rock, shaped by erosion into towers, cones, valleys, and caves. Rock-cut churches and underground tunnel complexes from the Byzantine and Islamic eras are scattered throughout the countryside.

Cappadocia, ancient district in east-central Anatolia, situated on the rugged plateau north of the Ta**us Mountains