Instead of wandering around again and walking, God only knows how many miles, we decided to take a tour.
We really didn't know much about it when we signed up... just that it would go to an underground city that I wanted to see.
First stop, a view of Goreme and the "fairy chimneys"
(Below)
Back on the bus and we drove to Derinkuyu, the deepest undergound city out of 36.
There were 11 floors total, only 10% of the city has been excavated, and each floor was built to be closed off from the inside. It is believed that this was to keep people in for months to guard them from an enemies attack.
The entire city could comfortably fit 35,000-50,000 people.
On the first floor we found a kitchen (mutfak) and a wine press. Throughout the city there are also oil presses, storage areas, chapels, and stables. Derinkuyu is connected to several other cities underground. Some of those cities were used by Christians to escape persecution.
The city dates back to 7th & 8th century in the Bronze age.
During the 10th century, it is believed that the city was expanded in order to hold more refugees for religious purposes.
(Below)
The oldest part of the undergroung city and closest to the surface. The kitchen.
I'm underground!
After the adventures underground we jumped on the bus for 45 minutes and drove to Ihlara Valley. I seem to be visiting a lot of places where there is a serious chance of me falling... far. Especially with how clumsy I am.
On that note, this trip has really shown me just how much of a clutz I can be.
Katrina's list of accidents (so far):
Times Tripped...dramatically - 5
Times broken something - 3
Times slammed doors - 4
Times hit head on something hard - 9... +
Times bumped into someone - 2
Times tripping down stairs - 2
Times dropping food on myself - 3
Times knocking someone with my backback - 1
... more to come im sure.
Back on topic.
Ihlara Valley
This valley is made from volcanic rock. The carvings along the Melendiz River were done by early Christians. This canyon is 450 feet deep. Throughout, there are more than 150 caves and churches.
One church that we visited was Agacalti Church.
(Below)
At the end of the long hike through the valley we stopped and ate lunch.
Chicken Kabobs and rice.
After lunch it was back on the bus again and we drove up the canyon and to Selime.
Selime was my favorite place that we visited in Cappadocia.
The Selime Cathedrale
Selime was built in the 19th century and was named for the sultan.
The rock formations are full of churchs and a school monastary.
Christian monks carved it out.
We climbed as high as we could go. The section that was the highest had a winding staircase. I ran up the narrow stair case and stopped abruptly since it dropped off, oh I don't know... 150 feet. We inched across the little bit of stone left and were able to climb upstairs. Terrifying is one way to word it... but climbing down was much worse. I was so scared I yelled to Michael, "I am NEVER doing this again!" An old gentleman from a crowd of people yelled back, "Yes, honey, you're probably right. You'll never get a chance to do anything like this again."
Good point.
Good point.
We went back to the bus for another hour of driving and ended up at Pigeon Valley, the same valley that we visited yesterday and we also went to a jewelry store where they carved some Onyx stone and gave it to me.
When we got back to Urgup we grabbed our bags and walked around town where I bought some interesting items. Couldn't resist... I am a tourist after all.
Good bye Urgup!
Good bye Cappadocia!
