Let’s take a little mystery tour.
Bet you can’t guess …
Photo by Benh LIEU SONG via Wikimedia Commons
Where in the world?
Photo by Dennis Jarvis via Wikimedia Commons
The landscape looks a little sci-fi, doesn’t it?
Like a movie set from Star Wars or, maybe, The Hobbit.
Photo by Beetjedwars via Wikimedia Commons
In this far-off place, we find fairy chimneys, like these:
Photo by Turken via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by Casalmaggiore Provincia via Wikimedia Commons
We might also happen upon mighty mushroom-like towers
Photo by Nazzarenoagostinelli via Wikimedia Commons
and intricately carved entrances in walls of stone …
Photo by Turken via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by Dennis Jarvis via Wikimedia Commons
… that lead to cave cubbies
Photo by Peretz Partensky via Wikimedia Commons
and rather creepy clandestine quarters.
Photo by Nevit Dilmen via Wikimedia Commons
Can it be real?
Well, just ask this guy. He lives there.
Photo by Dennis Jarvis via Wikimedia Commons
Want another hint to help you pinpoint this peculiar place? Sample the locally grown dried fruit (I think I see dates) and nuts:
Photo by Ji-Elle via Wikimedia Commons
So, where in the world are we?
Answer: This strange land is called Cappadocia, a naturally wondrous and historically rich region in the Central Anatolian provinces of Turkey.
As it turns out, the seemingly fantastic formations that characterize Cappadocia can be explained in geologic terms. The “fairy chimneys” that poke up from the ground, suggesting a subterranean society of bizarre beings, are actually the remnants of ancient volcanoes. And the inhabitants of the region are as human as you and me. According to Wikipedia, “People of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out houses, churches, and monasteries from the soft rocks of volcanic deposits.”
Photo by Zeynel Cebeci via Wikimedia Commons
At the end of our journey, Cappadoccia may be a place as real as Pittsburgh, but I can’t shake notions of magic and mysticism, can you?
