Cappadocia

Cappadocia is one of those places that defies description: a volcanic landscape sculpted by 30 million years of erosion, where fairy chimneys 10 to 40 metres high, pink valleys, river-carved canyons and troglodyte villages draw a geography that seems to belong to another planet. Located in the heart of central Anatolia, 700 km southeast of Istanbul, the region covers about 5,000 km² around the towns of Göreme, Üçhisar, Avanos, Ürgüp and Nevşehir, and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985.

The geological formation of Cappadocia results from the eruptions of the Hasan Dağı, Erciyes Dağı and Göllü Dağ volcanoes 30 million years ago, which deposited a layer of volcanic tuff (compacted ash) 100 to 300 metres thick. Wind and water erosion then sculpted this tuff into spectacular forms — the famous fairy chimneys (peri bacaları), pyramids capped with a harder basalt 'hat' that protects them from erosion. The main valleys (Göreme, Devrent, Rose, Red, Love, Ihlara) each offer a unique landscape, to explore on foot, on horseback or by quad.

Human occupation of Cappadocia dates back to the Neolithic but it is in the 4th-12th centuries that the region experienced its Christian heyday. Persecuted by the Romans then threatened by Arab invasions, Byzantine Christians carved into the soft tuff rock-cut churches (more than 600 catalogued), monasteries and entire underground cities (Derinkuyu, Kaymakli) capable of sheltering up to 20,000 people on 8 to 18 levels. The Göreme Open Air Museum, UNESCO-listed, brings together about ten rock-cut churches decorated with remarkable Byzantine frescoes (7th-13th centuries). Today, many of these troglodyte dwellings have been converted into cave hotels — luxury or boutique cave hotels — that are integral to the Cappadocian experience.

But the emblematic image of Cappadocia remains that of hot-air balloons at sunrise. Every morning (weather permitting), between 100 and 200 multicoloured balloons take off simultaneously from Göreme and Ürgüp for a flight of about 1 hour over the valleys, at altitudes varying between 30 and 600 metres. The experience, lived from the balloon or from a ground viewpoint (the iconic Sunset Point of Göreme), is one of the most photographed and most memorable of modern travel — to the point that Cappadocia has become a near-mandatory passage for young newlyweds, influencers and photographers.