Today was my favorite day by far! I really thought yesterday was wonderful but today was spectacular in many ways: the weather, the sites, and the carpet shopping!
Our first stop was Kaymakli Underground City. It is reported that there are 36 underground cities in Cappadocia. These underground cities were places where Christians could practice and spread their new faith freely, without fear of being persecuted by the Roman soldiers. There are many unanswered questions about the construction of these underground cities, but this particular city was large enough to house almost 5000 Christians at one time. The general belief is that first an air shaft, approximately 75m in depth was hallowed out down to the underground water. Then tunnels were created off of this shaft, and larger rooms were then created for living spaces. This city had many levels – 5 or 6, and went as far down as 100m.
The kids were very excited about hiking underground – I was a bit hesitant about the possibility of small tunnels to crawl through! But I had to be a big girl! And thank goodness I was – this was amazing! How was this created without modern technology? The first floor had housed the animals. This was to disguise the city if found and also for practical reasons as smells would rise! There was a large communal kitchen, food storage area, even a wine cellar!! The bedrooms were smaller rooms built off the main tunnels. Apparently there wasn’t one large main entrance as this would defeat the purpose of a hiding place. It is believed that there were many smaller entrances from inside homes around the area. We all were thinking of the Chillean coal miners while we were down there. We only went about 25m below ground and it was a weird feeling I must admit, I can’t imagine how they felt.
After emerging above ground again, we drove to Ilhara Valley where we all enjoyed a yummy lunch in a lovely 2nd floor restaurant with views of the valley below!
The 3km Ilhara Valley hike was probably one of my favorite spots so far. It is actually a gorge 150m deep which was created by the Melendiz river which flows from the Melendiz volcano. The sheer rock formations, the narrow paths along the river lined with poplar trees against the magnificent deep blue sky was breathtaking! I felt so privileged to be there and experiencing this.
The ending point was perhaps my favorite part of the entire trip! I keep saying that don’t I?! But it just got better and better! We concluded our journey at a cafe which was built along the river bed but also had tables in the river! Yes in the river! We walked out on small docks to sit on traditional tapestry pillows on the floor! We all enjoyed apple tea in the traditional turkish cushion seating arrangements. It was the most peaceful and unique setting I had ever seen. I could only imagine how beautiful and romantic it would be at night during the warmer months!
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