Goreme Modern History Background
by Kuznetsov_Sergey
The Cappadocia region, in which many diverse civilizations lived, was discovered by the Europeans at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1744, Paul Lucas who was charged by Louis XIV, king of France, had declared that he had seen pyramid formed strange houses near Hals that had charming doors, stairs and large windows to illuminate the rooms. The fairy chimneys reminded him of hooded priests and the rocks over them resembled the Virgin Mary holding the baby Christ, with the help of his imagination.
In 1819, when Lucas resumed research in Cappadocia he defined these fairy chimneys as the grave yards that belong to Caesarea (modern Kayseri). Lucas's fantastic description was reacted to with both suspicion and interest in the west. C. Texier whom arrived in Cappadocia between 1833 -1837 after Paul Lucas, stated that "nature had never showed itself to a foreigners eyes so extraordinarily".
According to much of the tourist literature on Cappadocia, the region was “discovered” by the West in the early twentieth century when a French priest named Guillaume de Jerphanion conducted and published a study of rock-cut churches in the Göreme valley. Followed by other scholars, Jerphanion’s work served to mark off the Byzantine churches in the Göreme valley as being of key historic significance. Other writings and photographic representations from the early twentieth century emphasise both the historic and visual significance of the churches and the frescoes on their rock-carved walls, thus denoting their value for tourist interest.
Part of the valley became enclosed as the Göreme Open-Air Museum in 1950.
The Göreme National Park (Göreme Milli Parklar in Turkish) was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.
Learn more here.
You may watch my high resolution photo of Goreme Open Air Museum on the Google Earth according to the following coordinates 38° 38' 26.70" N 34° 50' 40.05" E or on my Google Earth Panoramio Goreme Open Air Museum 1 .
German shepherd in Goreme
by Kuznetsov_Sergey
You can realize how I was missing my dogs staying in Moscow! And how lucky I was when saw a German shepherd near to the Ceramics shop! Long live German shepherds all over the World!
Thus it happened in Turkey I take a chance saing long live Turkish breeds!
I know two Turkish breeds.
The Sivas Kangal Dog is a breed of domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), and is the national breed of Turkey. This dog, which can grow as large as 64 kg, was originally used as a Livestock guardian dog.
Have a look here Kangal Dog.
The Anatolian Shepherd Dog is a breed of dog from Anatolia and bred for guarding flocks of sheep from wolves, bears, jackals, and even cheetahs.
Have a look there Anatolian Shepherd .
Nar Golu
by morgr
Admittedly there is not much to do or see here. It was just some lake on the side of the road. I think it was a crater lake, and possibly also the only lake in Cappadocia, though I am not sure.
I suppose you could take a stroll around it or, weather permitting, take a swim. We did neither. Snapped this picture then left.
ortahisar
by cachaseiro
ortahisar is another village that is worth visiting.
like uchisar it has a rock castle on top of town, but the castle in ortahisar has started to crumble and you are not allowed to go all the way to the top anymore.
it's still worth a visit though and there are many nice view points in and around the village.
Skip this tourist trap
by Tijavi about Tardelli
I don't know whether to put this under tourist trap or restaurants, but one thing is sure - my experience with this restaurant was not so pleasant. Not only were the portions small - a serving of beef sisli (barbecue) consists of six teeny-weeny bits with two spoons of rice pilaf on the side for about USD18!- but also the staff were too enthusiastic in please new guests at the expense of existing ones.
I was asked to move to a less desirable location in the middle of my meal when two guests came in - and it was clear there were enough seats for everybody! Just looked the waiter and smiled and went back to the beef morsels (yes, they were morsels!) on my plate dying to be gobbled up.
Not too happy with this restaurant - a complete rip off.
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'Kissing'
Love Valley - near Goreme
We are not alone
Selime monastery
