Goreme (Open Air Museum)

Goreme museum consists of steep cliffs and many hidden churches dating from the second half of the 9C and afterwards.

Christianity came early to Cappadocia. St. Paul passed through Caesarea (today Kayseri) on the way to Ankyra (Ankara). In the 4C AD Cappadocia produced three saints from the area. These are St. Basil the Great from Caesarea, his younger brother St. Gregory of Nysa and St. Gregory Nazianzus. St. Basil the Great was the son of devout parents and received his higher education in Constantinople and Athens but renounced a promising career to become a monk. Impressed by the ascetic life, he settled as a hermit in Cappadocia where he was joined by Gregory of Nazianzus. Basil ably defended the Christian faith among the churches of Anatolia, which had suffered from divisions caused by the Arian controversy. In 370 he succeeded Eusebius as bishop. As a leader who had brilliant organizational skills, Basil established hospitals, fostered monasticism, and reformed the liturgy. His Rule, a code for monastic life, became the basis of eastern monasticism, and the liturgy of St. Basil, probably compiled by him though later revised, is still used on certain Sundays in Orthodox churches.

Anchorites of the Early Church, who sought refuge from the distractions of the world in wild and remote places, chose Cappadocia which led monasticism to develop in the area. They devoted their lives to prayer, penance and fasting, often living in man-made or natural caves. Martyrdom was the ultimate aim of a devout Christian. The geography of Cappadocia was suitable for people who preferred ascetic lifestyles.

It is estimated that there are more than 600 rock-cut churches in Cappadocia. These churches that people carved were similar in plan to the ones in the capital. Walls were covered with beautiful frescoes and they were also influenced by the Iconoclast period in the 8C and 9C. Most of the frescoes date from the 11C and 12C. Two different techniques were employed for the frescoes, they were either painted directly on the rock or on a very thin coat of plaster. In churches where it was not plastered over, the painting became extensive. The predominant color of this style was red ocher. In many pictures it is noted that eyes or faces of people are obliterated as it was believed that this action killed the painted subject in the Islamic period.

The simplest church had a rectangular vaulted nave with an apse covered by a projecting arch. There are many variations of the churches, some with triple apse and a dome, cross-planned and so on. Because the churches were carved into the rock, they did not need to be supported by columns. Therefore columns and vaults are only structural symbols. Names of the churches are based on their archeological style or decoration, for instance the Buckle or Sandal Church. The apses of the churches face different directions as they are carved in accordance with the natural formations and availability of suitable rock pieces.

Peribacalari

The strange but beautiful formation of Cappadocia has had this appearance for millions of years. When the volcanoes in the region were active, the lava which poured out covered all previously formed hills and valleys forming a high plateau. This newly formed plateau consists mainly of tufa and some rare layers of basalt. This is the constructive stage of Cappadocia’s formation. The destruction of the tufa and the basalt layers by erosion (heavy rains and melting snow in spring) and sharp temperature changes has continued for thousands of years and is still in process today. Wind in general has a circling effect while rivers have horizontal and rain vertical effects on the landscape.

The basalt is less affected by erosion when compared to the tufa and has served as a protective cover. This juxtaposition of different materials has produced capped columns, pyramids and conical formations with dark-colored caps known as peribacalari, fairy chimneys. A block of hard rock which resists erosion is left standing alone as the tufa around it is worn away, until it stands at the top of a large cone. A fairy chimney exists until the neck of the cone is eroded and the cap falls off.

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