"The Traveller's Guide To: Cappadocia
Pat Yale explores the underground cities and cave dwellings in the valleys of central Turkey
Published: 30 July 2005
CAPPADOCIA? ISN'T THAT WHERE PEOPLE LIVE IN CAVES?
Indeed it is. Millions of years ago, volcanoes spewed out ash and tufa over a wide part of central Turkey. The wind and rain then worked away at these deposits, carving out deep gorges and leaving behind astonishingly phallic rocky outcrops, known as "fairy chimneys". Enterprising locals went on to burrow into the rock to make houses, churches, stables, storerooms, even cave wineries. Many people, particularly in the village of Goreme, still live an extraordinary troglodyte lifestyle, albeit with satellite television and washing machines."
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