Cappadocian region is the place where the nature and history come together with most beautiful scene in the world. While geographic events are forming Peribacaları (fairy chimneys), during the historical period, humans had carried the signs of thousand years old civilizations with carving houses and churches within these earth pillars and decorating them with frisks.

During the Roman Emperor, Augustus period, territories of Cappadocian Region as a wide region lying till to the Toros Mountains at south, Aksaray at west, Malatya at east and Eastern Black Sea shores at north within the 17 volume book named ‘Geographika’ of Strabon, one of the Antic Period writers. Today’s Cappadocian Region is the area covered by Nevşehir, Aksaray, Niğde, Kayseri, and Kırşehir cities. More limited area, rocky Cappadocian Region is composed of Üçhisar, Göreme, Avanos, Ürgüp, Derinkuyu, Kaymaklı, Ihlara and environment.

Traditional Cappadocian houses and dovecotes carved into stones are showing the uniqueness of the region. These houses are constructed on the feet of the mountain via rocks or cut stones. Rock, which is the only construction material of the region, as it is very soft after quarry due to the structure of the region, can be easily processed but after contact with air it hardens and turns into a very strong construction material. Due to being plentiful and easy to process of the used material, regional unique masonry is developed and turned into an architectural tradition. Materials of neither courtyard nor house doors is wood. Upper parts of the doors built with arches are decorated with stylized ivy or rosette motifs.

Dovecotes within the region are small structures constructed within 18th century and end of 19th century. Some of the dovecotes, which are important for showing Islamic picture art are constructed as monastery or church. Surfaces of dovecotes are decorated with rich inscriptions and adornments by regional artists.

Area: 5.467 km²

Population: 309.914 (2000)

Traffic Code: 50
The province of Nevşehir is one of the major cities of Cappadoccia Region and displays a beautiful combination of nature and history. The geographic movements had formed the fairy chimneys and during the historical development process, mankind had settled and inhabited these natural wonders, fairy chimneys and carved houses and churches inside these formations and adorned these settlements with frescos, carrying the traces of the thousands of years of their civilizations.

Districts: Nevşehir (center), Acıgöl, Avanos, Derinkuyu, Gülşehir, Hacıbektaş, Kozaklı, Ürgüp.

Highway: Reaching to the province of Nevşehir via highway is possible from the entire country.
Telephone of the Bus Station: (+ 90 - 384) 213 40 25
Air Transportation: The airport is approximately 30 km. away from the city center. Reaching to the airport is possible via busses, shared taxis and commercial taxis.

Avanos
Ürgüp
Hacıbektaş
Göreme
Ancient Cities
Mosques and Churches
Thermal Springs
National & Natural Parks
Ornithology Areas

CULTUREL DETAILS OF NEVŞEHİR

Nevşehir, The Capital Of Cappadocia

In the mythology of the Hittites and the Phrygians, the region of Nevşehir lies on the planet of Cappadocia, whose creation was the work of the Gods of the Volcanoes and which was shaped by the soft and magical hands of the Gods of the Rains and the Winds. Cappadocia represents a site where Nature and History have commingled in the most beautiful fashion in the world. While geographical circumstances created the Fairy Chimneys, human beings in the course of the historical process sculpted the interiors of these Fairy Chimneys to construct their dwellings and churches, which they decorated with frescoes that have survived as witnesses of civilizations thousands of years old. To preserve this incredible cultural treasury and prevent its capture by others, Thales of Miletus himself divided the Kızılırmağı river (the ancient Halys) into two sections to facilitate the crossing by the forces of the Lydian king to oppose the Persian invading forces. The first scientific calculations in history were also carried out here. Nevşehir constitutes the capital city of the planet Cappadocia. But, the renown of Cappadocia has so intensified as to extend beyond the nation’s boundaries and overwhelm that of Nevşehir itself, which has nearly been forgotten. Here, therefore, we hope to conduct a complete survey of the historical and cultural aspect of the Nevşehir area.

The natural beauties and cultural wealth in the environs of Avanos, Zelye and Göreme have attracted the attention of historical writers and travelers for centuries. Historically, Cappadocia was first known as “Katpatuka” in the Persian period, signifying a region where fine horses were bred. It has not yet been resolved whether the word is of Hatti, Luwian, Hittite or Assyrian origin. Surviving documents make mention of horses and horse- breeding in this area. During the Great Kingdom period (1460-1190 B.C.), the Hittites assigned great importance to horses and horsebreeding. Correspondingly, they imported expert horsebreeders from the land of the Mitanni and transmitted their expertise to future generations by inscribing their words on clay tablets. As evidence, we might refer to a work written by a young Mitanni horsebreeding specialist named Kikkuli, which has been recovered from the contemporary Boğazköy state archives.

Precious histories have survived from the pens of Xenophon (401 B.C.), Strabon of Amasya (18 A.D.), Gregoir of Nissa (334-94 A.D.) and a young vineyard keeper of Machan (now, Göreme) (495-515 A.D.). Paul Lucas, appointed by the French Royal Court to travel in the countries of the Mediterranean, was the first observer of the modern period to acquaint Europeans with this fascinating area.

On his way from Ankara to Kayseri in the month of August 1705, Paul Lucas, who had been commanded by the French king Louis XIV to conduct research in the countries of the East, was astonished upon his arrival in the vicinity of Avanos and Ürgüp. The geologzcal structure-which closely resembles a fairytale land the curious spatial units of rock in which the inhabitants dwelled, the churches and the colorful world of their interiors left him in a state of amazement.

After Lucas returned home, he published his notes in a two-volume book of travels in Paris in 1712. Describing his observations in the Cappadocian region, he produced a rather fanciful description heightened by his imagnation, thus: “…When I first came upon the ancient structural ruins lying on the opposite bank of the Kızılırmak, I fell into a state of utter bewilderment. Here stood countless-heretofore unknown-pyramidal formations…. Each of these formations possessed a beautiful door, a charming staircase by which to gain entrance and large windows in all the rooms to secure illu- mination. Within a single rock mass had been hewn a number of living quarters, each lying one above the other…. They numbered not several hundreds, but more than a couple of thousand. At first, I assumed that these pyramids represented dwellings that had formerly belonged to monks. For their shapes recalled that of ecclesiastical caps. Afterwards, however, I detected that they possessed a variety of forms.”

On his second journey through the region in 1714, he characterized the Fairy Chimneys as the “ancient cemetery of a vanished city.” This prompted a great scandal in the court of King Louis XIV. The members of the Court were convinced that Paul Lucas was a pathological liar (mithmom,anie); in fact, the French ambassador in Istanbul asserted that he wanted to make a personal investigation of the region to determine whether or not Paul Lucas was telling the truth. Comte Desalleurs confirmed that the facts of the cir- cumstances were true and that pyramidal shaped entities existed. When the book of travels was published it aroused a great public debate in Europe. Ürgüp and vicinity, which were shown in the engravings, represented quite a remote locale for the Europe of that day. Moreover, the information supplied by Lucas was not supported by ancient sources on this subject. The fantastic depiction furnished by Lucas was very tantalizing to the West, but for some it was beyond belief and greeted with incredulity. The German writer, C.M. Wieland (1753-1814) expressed such criticism, as follows: “It is impossible to give credence to the claim that such a great number of houses in the shape of pyramids exists when the subject is not given the slight- est notice by any of the ancient writers or travel books.”

A more realistic description of Ürgüp and Göreme was provided by the French traveler Charles Texier who visited the region some one hundred fiftyyears after Lucas. This well-known architect, who was assigned by the French government the task of conducting research in Anatolia, examined the Cappadocia region in a painstaking manner in the course of his journeys undertaken in 1833 and 1837. Publishing the results of his travels and research in Anatolia in a monumental, six-volume work titled Description, de l’Asie Mineure, which included engravings and plans, he states at one point that “…Nature had never displayed herself to the foreign observer’s eye in such an extraordinary fashion. I have never heard of a more long-lived and dream-like natural phenomenon in any other region of the world.”

European travelers after Lucas in the nineteenth century came to Cappadocia to conduct studies of a scientific nature; yet, they were unable to disguise their astonishment upon their encounters with this bizarre geology. The English traveler W.F. Ainsworth recounts the surreal appearance of the volcanic valley, thus: “After crossing a valley that extends the length of the river, we suddenly found ourselves in a forest composed of rocks of conical and columnar form which surrounded us in an utterly bewildering manner. It was as if we were touring the ruins of some very ancient and vast city. Some of the cones carried on their peaks large and randomly shaped fragments of rock.”

In July 1837, W.J. Hamilton, a prominent English geologist, arrived in the area and, lending support to Texier’s view, agreed that “Words fail one in attempting to describe the appearance of this extraordinary locale.” The leading Prussian field marshal Moltke, who visited Ürgüp on his way from Nevşehir to Kayseri, noted the characteristic tissue of the region by stating that “An ancient citadel perched on a rocky cliff, which rose up perpendicularly and into which a number of caves had been hewn in a peculiar manner, overlooked the town. The houses of Ürgüp were of stone and constructed in a most elegant manner…. The mountain valley lying behind Ürgüp was covered with vineyards and cleft by deep ravines. On their slopes stand fantastic castles such as are depicted on old wallpaper.”

Fuller information concerning the rock churches appeared in the work titled Description de l’Asie Mineure, which Texier published in 1862. In the volume he published jointly with the English architect R.P. Pullan in 1864 on Byzantine architecture, the rock churches of Ürgüp and environs are thoroughly discussed. The Englishman W.J. Hamilton expressed his amazement by exclaiming that “Words are inadequate to describe the appearance of this extraordinary place.” Scientific studies and publications began in the late nineteenth century. Physical analyses of the Cappadocian region and the utilization of historical sources were executed by scientists, such as A.D. Mordtmann, W.M. Ramsey, J.R.S. Sterret and Charles Texier. The monumen- tal work published by G. de Jerphanion between the years 1907-12 was the first extensive art historical study to examine in a systematic rrianner the rock churches, monasteries and the wall frescoes on their interiors. In 1958, the French Nicole Thierry and Catherine Jolivet published those churches excluded from the study by the priest Jerphanion, thereby assisting in endowing Cappadocia with its present-day renown.

Earliest Evidence Of Human Habitation In The Region

Though paleolithic remains can be identified in the area, this cultural phase occurs fairly late and possibly represents the last paleolithic era. In any case, this is supported by all the data that has been thus far recovered. The reason may be that the Würm glacier covered the Anatolian plateau for iong ages and that the eruption of volcanoes, in particular, would have made human occupation impossible. Yet, despite the absence of evidence, it is undeniable that the valleys of the Cappadocian region where the river banks and sources of fresh water are abundant offered extremely favorable living conditions for early human settlement. It should not be an error to assume that tufa represented a warm habitation space for human life, because it could usually be easily worked-by obsidian, for example, a much harder stone-without the need for metal. The rocky heights along the sides of the valley were also obviously appropriate for protective purposes. We know that for hundreds of thousands of years human communities maintained their existence by gathering fruit and hunting and fishing and that they settled along river banks because of their critical dependence on water. In this respect, the Kızılırmak river undoubtedly served an historical function. The lack of confirming evidence for these events is a consequence of living nature in Cappadocia; over time, successive communities reworked the traces they encountered, and each resettlement effaced and obliterated the older imprints. This has made it very difficult and even impossible to date the spatial volumes in the rocks of Cappadocia.

Near Gelveri, in addition to the notable settlements and artefacts of Hittite origin, which bear a prehistoric connection to Continental European cultures, English archeologists have recovered paleolithic and neolithic stone tools at Avla Tepesi, eight kilometers southeast of Ürgüp. Similarly, the British Archeological Institute of Ankara discovered quite interesting finds in a study of prehistoric sites conducted between 1964-66. The results of this surface field research headed by Ian Todd identified a nıimber of settlement sites-the earliest of which was Neolithic-most of which were in the Nevşehir and Niğde areas. The towns of İğdeli Çeşme, Acıgöl and Tatlar, which lie within the provincial boundaries of Nevşehir, are a few of the sites that witnessed very large Neolithic era settlements. The excavations of Acemtumulus being conducted at Yeşilova near Tuz Gölü (at Tat), which lies 18 kilometers northwest of the town of Aksaray, are of prime interest. The finds from the dig can be assigned dates ranging from the late fourth to the mid-seventh centuries. A settlement with houses arranged in a regular fashion has come to light beneath Byzantine structures. The artefacts suggest that this was an undefended settlement occupied with agricultural cultivation. The level (Level 3) postdating the Byzantine settlement, which is no doubt Roman, produced pottery of Hellenistic character and may be dated to the first century B.C.-first century A.D. The cultural stratum of approximately four meters that lies beneath this level is also associated with the Hellenistic period. These settlements, which comprise four structural levels, all exhibit evidence of fire and earthquakes. Level 4 settlement was terminated by a violent fire. Level 5 preserves the terror of earthquake with the remains of two elderly persons in tortured postures, caught in the act of attempting to protect themselves from the onslaught. The twisted bodies of two youths were found in Level 7 which had been leveled by fire. After Level 8, houses of megaron make their appearance. A wall of sundried brick was uncovered in Level 16, which had been laid on a terrace of fill. Level 17, dated to 600-500 B.C., contained burnished red earthenware with geometric motifs. Cultural artefacts of the Hittites and the Early Bronze age occurred in Levels 19-24. City wall fragments exhibiting a simple technique and pots of Hittite style were recovered from Levels 19, 20 and 22. Remains of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze ages up to 4,000 B.C. were common. The excavations begyun in 1968 in the vicinity of the Hacıbektaş tumulus (Sulucakara tumulus), which contains relics dated to the Early through Middle Hittite periods and the Phrygian, Roman, Late Roman and Byzantine periods. Those undertaken in 1967 by the Italians at the tumulus of Topaklı have brought to light settlements from the Early Bronze age to the Byzantine period in 24 structural strata. These furnish proof that the Nevşehir region is a very ancient site of human habitation.

Here, commercial and associated relations among the settlement units emerged to meet the essential needs connected with the transition to sedentary life; communities that possessed and produced the basic materials and commodities for which deıxıand was expressed became leading centers in every era. At the close of the Early Bronze age (3200-1950 B.C.), Assyrian merchants termed the region within the Kızılırmak crescent the “Land of the Hatti.” Assyrian city merchants in northern Mesopotamia established a widespread and active commercial network in Central Anatolia (1950-1750 B.C.). The names of nine major trading centers and hundreds of small cities appear in the hundreds of records of commercial correspondence made of baked clay that have survived; among these is the name of Nenessa. Furthermore, one of the natural main routes that linked Aksaray and Kayseri followed the banks of the Kızılırmak river. Evidence confirms the existence of settlement during the Hittite era. The Assyrian tablets, however, furnish valuable data on Avanos, which today is located within the province of Nevşehir; we are therefore enabled to acquire information about the Nevşehir region by tracing the history of Avanos.

J.C. Gardin and P. Garelli reported in the early nineteenth century that investigation of the commercial routes of the Assyrians had revealed that their terminal points lay as far as the environs of Incesu, Aksaray, Konya, Bor, Niğde and Ereğli and that Nenessa and Washania were situated within the boundaries of this region. Moreover, tablets inform us that two mer-chants who could travel from Kanesh (Kayseri, Kültepe) to Burushhattum (Acemtumulus) in four days commonly passed through Washania, Nenessa and Ullama. In 1926, the linguist Emile Forrer deciphered the name “Zu- Wynassa” on one of the tablets in the course of his research in the Boğazköy Hittite Royal archives. Zu-Winassa, the Hittite name, most likely corresponded to Nenassa, as it was known in the Assyrian language. Nenessa (or, St. Vanot, as noted by Gregoir of Nissa) was transformed, according to the research of N. Thierry, to Venessa and Avanos. In Ottoman records, Avanos is called, alternatively, “Enes,” “Uvenez” or “Evenez.”

Around the year 2000 B.C., city states make their appearance in central Anatolia. During this era, the Hittites established their rule ca. 1750 B.C. when they arrived in Central Anatolia, the land of the Hatti. In roughly f 1200 B.C., the tribes who came from Thrace and the Mediterranean-Aegean E tribes who appear in the legends of Homer as the destroyers of Troy put an G end to the Hittite empire: Following this invasion, Anatolia entered an age of darkness that lasted for four hundred years, and it became subject to the Phrygians.

Around 800 B.C., we witness the reappearance in the region of the Hittite kingdom of Tabal. The Tabal kingdom, which achieved fame for its horsebreeding, fell in the mideighth century B.C. The center of this kingdom was Ttıvanna (Tiana-Kemerhisar) near Bor. The first settlers in the Cappadocian region were the Hatti, the Luwians and the Hittites. The Assyrians founded a trading colony in this region between the close of the third millennium B.C. and the beginning of the second millennium B.C which is known as the age of the Assyrian trading colony. The cuneiform tablets in Assyrian that were discovered at Kültepe (Kanesh) known as the Cappadocian tablets (early second millennium B.C.) are the first written records of Anatolia. Study of the tablets and decipherment of the langauge has revealed that they were produced by Assyrian merchants. These tablets, which shed light on the social and political life of the period, are essentially commercial and economic agreements. These records inform us that at this time small dynasties and principalities existed in Central Anatolia, which were the that the local king independent of a central out hority. They indica doms held sway over small areas and that they maintained a peaceful existence.

Kanesh (Kültepe), the most prominent city of the period, was the center of trading activity in Anatolia. Expanding greatly in the second half of the ninth centuıy B.C., the Tabal kingdom assumed total control over the region. Confirmation of this situation is gained from the hieroglyphic rock inscriptions occurring at Hacıbektaş-Karaburna, Topada (Acıgöl), Gülşehir-Sıvasa (Gökçetoprak). The region, which had formed the nucleus of the Hittite empire, subsequently came under the hegemony of the Phrygians and the Persians. Invasions of the region were conducted by the Cimmerians and the Scythians and, after 700 B.C., were incorporated into the empires of the Lydians, the Medes and the Persians, respectively. After the sixth century, Nevşehir and the surrounding area came under the rule of the Lydians. In the mid-sixth century, the Lydian king Croesus crossed the Kızılırmak in an attempt to halt the Persians (575-46 B.C.). Thales of Miletus discovered for King Croesus a solution to the problem of crossing the Kızılırmak river. The historian Herodotus relates the following: “At that time Thales, who happened to be present at the bivouac, had a deep trench dug that led toward the upper edge of the bivouac site in a semi-circular form; thus, the river flowed from its normal bed to the trench and, after meandering through the area in the opposite direction, it once again returned to its original bed. Now, once it had been divided into two streams, it was a simpler matter to cross the river.” After the defeat of croesus in this battle, the regxon came into the hands of the Persians (Achaemenads). The Persians did not compel the populace to migrate. But, they left the administration of the great land holdings in the hands of the military elite of Persian origin and the local religious leaders. Here, a fusion occurred between the local culture and the Persian culture. Herodotus describes the Persian cultural structure, as follows: “They do not know how to make religious icons, temples and altars; they slaughter their sacrifices on the tops of mountains, and what they call Zeus is the divine dome of the sky. They dedicate their sacrifices to the sun, the moon, the earth, the fire, the water and the wind.” The fire-worshipping cult of the Persians became particularly important in the Cappadocian region; the volcanic peak Argaios (Mount Erciyes) was especially convenient for this cult. The Persian gods, unlike the gods of other religions, had no true temples of worship. Instead, certain grounds were sacred to them; these holy sites were scattered throughout the region, with which were associated numerous fire temples. Greek writers called these sacred gröunds “Pirhethee” and their priests “Piree,” that is, “those who make fires.” In the Zend language these priests were called “Atharvan,” or fire priests. Fire temples were situated on elevated terrain within the sacred grounds and consisted in a stone niche covered with coals that burned continuously. The Atharvan (Magian priest) wore a long, white robes and, on their heads, wool caps whose peaks fell level with the mouth; each day they would enter the holy gTounds with a bunch of branches and sing hymns for about an hour at the base of the fire temple. On occasion they would offer libations as sacrifices or they would slaughter an animal. The one who offered the sacrifice would employ a heavy, wooden hammer for this task, for the “use of iron was strictly forbidden….” The most sacred of the holy grounds in Cappadocia were called in Persian “Zela” (Zile). Professor Emeritus Günaltay specifically reminds us that Strabon reports that the Zela sacred grounds were consecrated to the three most popular gods, whose names were Anaitis, Omanos and Anadates. The Persian beliefs associated with fire worship were rapidly adopted by the Cappadocians. The Persians were fortunate in their encounter with a perfect geography to contribute support their tenets. The region, where fires and volcanoes were common formed an ideal terrain for these beliefs. Historians report that temples devoted to fire gods were in existence until the fourth century A.D.

Under Persian rule, the region began to be known as “Cappadocia,” and a Cappadocian satrapy was established. In the Persian period, animal husbandry was quite developed in Cappadocia, and it is known that the Persians received their tax payment of 360 talents in kind, in the form of 1,500 horses, 2,000 mules and 50,000 sheep. In contrast to the commercial and money economy in effect in the coastal regions, a landlocked commerce held sway in the interior. The Persian state, whose economic oppor- tunities remained constricted, gradually lost power. Prof. Emeritus Gunaltay has asserted that “During the conquest of Iran, fertile lands were granted to the elite while the villagers were reduced to the position of serfs bound to the soil. When the Persian nobility lost their wealth through extravagant entertainments, elaborate chases and a superficial life, they would sell their villagers to Greek or Roman slave traders. Only the slaves (serfs) that served in the fire temples were exempt from sale.Such events provide sufficient information as to why the Mesopotamian culture of the era of the Kültepe tablets completely vanished. Because of such social tragedies, the Cappadocians no longer recalled their national traditions and, therefore, came to submit to the influence of Ionian culture.

Young Alexander, the king of Macedonia, produced the collapse of the great Persian empire through a series of victories over its armies in 334 B.C. and 331 B.C. This peace was broken by the Eastern campaign of the Macedonian, Alexander the Great (333-23 B.C.), and an ongoing series of wars was pursued by Alexander’s generals and their descendants. Our earliest historical knowledge indicates that Avanos was founded in the year 332 B.C. by a lieutenant of Alexander named Eumenes. The Alexandran era was followed by the establishment of a Cappadocian kingdom, whose capital was located in Kayseri (Mazaka). The Cappadocian throne at Mazaka changed hands several times.In addition to the constant turnover of political powers,the inhabitants of Cappadocia had become exhausted by the attacks and pillaging by the invaders of the region. Following the transformation from an empire to a republic by Rome, Cappadocia became increasingly subject to oppression. Rulers were unable to advance beyond acting as a satellite of Rome. Cappadocia became a Roman province in Asia in 17 A.D. During this period, because of the poverty in which Cappadocia had fallen, the Roman emperor Tiberius was forced to lighten the oppressive tax burden on the region. The following year, a Roman governor (legat) was appointed to Cappadocia. As Strabon relates (18 A.D.), Avanos had now become a very wealthy and developed city. Avanos (Venessa) was the most important of the three prominent cities of the region. Avanos, after Kayseri, as a religious center was second in size and significance and the third largest political administrative center of the state, after Kayseri and Comano Because the chief priest was third most eminent functionary in the kingdom’s hierarchy, he had an income of 3,000 heradul and 15 talents (the equivalent of 500 kilograms of silver at the current exchange rate). The servant Euphrates also informs us that there was a well-established and powerful aristocracy in Venessa. The most fascinating information on Avanos is contained in the writings of monks.

The first of these is Gregoir of Nissa (334-94 A.D.) who, in his letter to hisfriend Adelphois, thanks him for the hospitality he displayed to him at his villa when he was passing through Venessa; the villa was apparently the most luxurious of those in the capital. According to the letter, Venessa is a very developed city provided with all the amenities and possesses a splendid monument to martyrs and wonderful fruit orchards and vineyards from which high quality wine is produced. This letter by Gregoir of Nyssa is the only extant record describing Avanos in antiquity. His letter goes on to relate that “…It is difficult to find words to describe the beauties of Avanos One must see it with one’s own eyes… I have visited numerous places in my life and I have heard many things; and every place about whose beauties I have been told I have gone to visit. But, after seeing Avanos, none of them bears any distinction by comparison. Neither the famed Helicon nor v the Isles of Bliss nor the plains of Sission nor Thessaly-all fall short of Avanos. Nature that is fashioned in such an aesthetically pleasing manner as it is here has no equal in the whole world. One should view the Kızılırmak river (Halys) whose waters of crimson hue flow pass near the feet of shepherds grazing their flocks. On the opposite bank of the Kızılırmak, the beauty of the intense green of the fruit trees, the flourishing vineyards of extraordinary bounty and the pear blossoms set like pearls is incompara- ble. Rather than natural beauty, it seems to possess the rare and excellent beauty of a painting from the hand of a superior artist…. “He goes on to state that at the entrance to the city stood a church in the process of construction.Though its roof was as yet incomplete, it exhibited a supreme loveliness; the church referred to was very probably, as N. Thierry has suggested, the Dere Yamanlı church.

The official policy of Diocletianus (284-305) in persecution of the Christians had no success. The succeeding period of Constantine I.witnessed a stirring time for religious activity; it was a time when it was regarded as ordinary to believe in a number of cults simultaneously and brought about a phenomenon of religious syncretism. Even though Constantine I accepted Christianity by 312 A.D. at the latest, this should not imply that he turned away from the tradition of idol worshipping. It is known that he continued in his old beliefs and customs, that he was even an adherent of the sun cult and that he offered support and assistance to this cult. Gregoir of Nissa states in his letter that included in the Christian religious ceremonies existed relics of the ancient polytheist ritual for the worship of Zeus. In fact, the ancient polytheist religious concepts had attained dominance for a time. Unfortunately, however, we do not know how long this theological confusion continued at Avanos, which disturbed Gregoir so much. Incidentally, Gregoir is said to have been baptized on his deathbed.

After the fourth century A.D., we have at hand another letter-this one by Ilieron of Machan (now, Göreme) that may also assist us in tracing the his- tory of Venessa (Avanos). Neither the Romans nor those who came after- wards (the Byzantines) wished to have the region assimilated into their own culture. Rather, their foremost concerns were maintaining control over the free commercial roads and utilization of the human potential of the Cappadocian region in the Byzantine army.

CULTUREL DETAILS OF NEVŞEHİR

Regional Roads and Commercial Traffic

The roadways have been reduced in length over the centuries by a number of bridges, but the main roadshaving been in continuous use-have undergone little change; in fact, one of the basic objectives of the military organi- zations was to maintain these roads.Dr.Kınal believes that the “overland roads between Anatolia and Mesopotamia, which had in use since the time of King Sargon of Akkad and was heavily traveled in the Kültepe period, were undoubtedly also in use in the Hittite period. Studies to identify these roads have concluded that this road went from Hattusha-Kanesh (Kültepe) to Tegarama (Gürün) to Darende-Melit (Malatya) to Samusat (Samsat) to Urshu (Urfa), from where it branched into two roıites; one arm led west to Kargamish (Cerablus) and IIalpa (Aleppo), the other led east through Nisibis (Nusaybin) to Asur and Babylon.  Artefacts of the Hittite period have been recovered from all these sites.  Another route that connected Anatolia to northern Syria began in Kuzzuwatna, led through the  gülek straits and continued on to Aleppo, Kinza and Kadeshe.” In addition to the clay pellet artefacts at places like Fraktin, we may add the long hieroglyphic Hittite inscription at the village of Karaburna, about eight kilometers from Hacıbektaş and the reliefs at Karapınar and even Imamkulu, and Ivriz to provide a general overview of the Hittite period. To complete the picture, we should note that Göllüdağ is located at a central point in the region. Some researchers have indicated that a settlement near Aksaray, about 80 kilometers from Niğde, whose ancient name is still unknown, and which is located at a protected site at a height of 2,143 meters on the west side of the Ihlara valley, was connected to sites where reliefs and inscriptions are located, including Bor, Niğde, Andaval, Veliisa, Çiftlik, Karapınar, Topada, Suvasa, Karaburna to Sivas; and from Bohcha, Kayseri, Erkilet, Kültepe, Eğrek, Karakuyu, Gürün, Darende to Malatya; and from Fraktin, Tashchı, Imamkulu, Izgın and Karatumulus to. Elbistan; it also had connecting arteries to Gelveri, Ihlara, Selime to Aksaray and Acemtumulus.

The Royal road, which was the chief road that connected West to East in Anatolia, also joined the main settlements of Phrygia to the north of Cappadocia. At the same time, this road and the main routes led from the Black sea to the south, one of which passed to the west of the Kızılırmak along the shores of Tuz lake to Aksaray and from there to the vicinity of Kemerhisar (Tyana) south of Niğde and the other of which descended from Sinop through Kayseri. The key road linking Kayseri to the Aegean coast in the Greco-Roman period passed through Cappadocia. This road went from Ephesus, Manisa (Magnesia), Aydın (Tralle), Sultanhisar (Nyssa), Mastavra Kale (Mastaura), Karrura, Hasköy (Attuda), Eskihisar (Laodikeia), Honoz (Kolossia),  Dinar  (Apameia),  Haydarlı  (Etropolis), Yalvaç  (Antiocheia Pissidiae), Yargan, Ladik (Laodikeia Katakekaumene), Koropassos, Aksaray (Gausaura), Soandan, Sakasene, Viranşehir, Kayseri (Kaisareia), Serezek (Arasaxa),  Herpa,  Pınarbaşı  (Ariaratheia),  Arslanbeyle  (Coduzalaba), Kuruçay-Bel Incilise, Göksün (Cocussuz), Yarpuz (Arabissos) and Arkas to Malatya (Melitan). Despite the lacunae in our knowledge concerning the settlements, it seems possible to ascertain the main routes. One route led from ankara to Cilicia and from the shore of Tuz lake to the eastern flanks of Mount Hasan Dağı and from there through Kemerhisar (Tyana); the other originated in Pessinus, led through Aksaray to west of Nevşehir (Soandoz) and through Kayseri. The Roman roads, as Thierry reports based on three sources, include the route followed by Antonin in the third century A.D., another is the itinerary outlined by Peutinger in the fourth century A.D. and the third is the Jerusalem road as it was in the sixth century A.D. According to these sources, one terminus for the route they proposed for the north-south road through Ankara was Pariasan (Parnassos) and from there along the Çeneköy river (Ozzizala-Nitazo) to Acemtumulus (Austama?) to Aksaray (Colanea Archelais), to Mamasun (Momoassun), Bekar (Nenezi, Naziance), Bartumulus (Chussa?), wesf of Göllüdağ,  Hasköy (Sasima), Andavalköy (Andabalis), Niğde, Kemerhisar (Tyana), Ulukışla (Halala Faustinopolis) and the Gülek straits.

This route was complemented by a pass with a secondary route leading from the west through the valleys. This road descended from Mamasun to the south and passed through  Selime  (Salabrina?),Gelveri (Karbala), Sivrihisar,  Melendiz . (Malandasa),  Göniye  (Quniya?),  Belkis  (or Balysa, Valisa) to Niğde. This road became a route of preference of the Byzantines.They also often traveled by the East-West route joining Aksaray to Kayseri that led from Bekar, Derinkuyu, Kaymaklı, Nevşehir and from there to Aksaray, Bekar,Acıgöl (Topada, Dadata) and Nevşehir (Nissa, Soandoz).The Thierrys, assuming that the Byzantines believed the Roman roads were most appropriate for trade and whose distances were shorter and that for this reason they were developed, claim that there was a road system to link Nevşehir to Kayseri and Niğde.If this is so, one route would have passed through Nevşehir, Uçhisar and Göreme (Korama) (with Avanos lying to the north of it) to Kayseri and Ortahisar would have stood at the crossroads.In fact, with the valley formed by the Balkan river, Ortahisar reduces the leng’th of the Nevşehir to Mustafapaşa road.  Hence, we see that Ortahisar, which lies on the Niğde-Kayseri Roman road with the side road that leads to Nevşehir, branches off at the intersection of Yeşilhisar (Cyzistra) and intersects with the Nevşehir, Uçhisar, Göreme to Kayseri road. It is of interest to note that another commercial route in the Avanos area is formed by a second intersection of the Roman road that follows the Kızılırmak and the Hacıbektaş, Gülşehir (Arapsun-Zoropassos) road.Yet, Avanos is typically given less  importance  in  this  commercial  triangle  of  Hacıbektaş- GülŞehir-Nevşehir-Avanos. As we indicated earlier, the commercial and geographical position of Avanos that is, the position of its commercial goods and bridgewas significant. These roads were in use by human traffic throughout history and these were, particularly, the most direct routes between the active and leading cities.We should recall that Avanos developed into an important commercial center due to the fact that Avanos was a major center of religious culture because of the Zeus temple located in the city in the Roman Byzantine period (both banks of the Kızılırmak were active transit avenues for the distribution of the commercial commodities). Avanos at the time it is described by Gregoir of Nissa was a leading city. In addition, the shortest route from Nevşehir and the one from Hacıbektaş to Kayseri which passed through Avanos,  Sofular and  Karatumulus  and Avanos and Sarı han to Kayseri were heavily traveled in the Roman Byzantine period.

CULTUREL DETAILS OF NEVŞEHİR

Cappadocia : a Subterranean Land

Hewing the rock formations in Cappadocia has possibly been an activity that has been executed of necessity by human beings from earliest times. First of all, the lack of wood in the natural surround and the frequent earth- quakes that have shaken the area would have urged the inhabitants of Cappadocia experiencing the need for a sound shelter to carry on their daily activities to take refuge in the stone blocks.

The fresco that portrays the eruption of Hasan Dağı, which the British archeologist James Mellaart recovered at Çataltumulus and which is regarded as the first landscape depiction, has been dated by Carbon 14 to 5734 B.C.; from that date onwards, both the mountains of Erciyes and Hasan and, especially in that epoch, the small-scale local volcanoes on the Nevşehir plateau constituted unpredictable and unavoidable hazards for the regional inhabitants.

These eruptions of volcanic activity continued with close frequency in Central Anatolia until ca. 2000 B.C.; in fact Michel Thierry has indicated that the depictions  of  erupting volcanoes  on Roman  coins  found on the Cappadocian plateau represent Mount Erciyes.  The people of the region, which was sanctified by its mountains, believed that a giant monster occupied the depths of the volcano and that this monster spewed lava and hurled stones, and they have left depictions of this.  In a Hittite rock relief at Imamkulu from the thirteenth century, the forms of three mountain gods have been drawn. A tunnel that has been discovered, which was excavated for the purpose of sanctifying the mountain cult at the peak of Mount Erciyes, demonstrates how intensely volcanic activity occupied the thoughts of the people of the region.

The earthquakes and fires that occurred as a consequence of volcanic eruptions continued until the Hellenistic period (323-17 B.C.). Strabon cautions that there were fires beneath the earth in certain areas in the proximity of Mount Erciyes and that it constituted a hazard for the most of the people in this area, particularly for the cattle, and that it was necessary to be vigilant against the danger of falling into the fire wells below the surface of the earth. Moreover, he notes that fires were visible in this region after darkfall.

Mount Erciyes, in particular, due to its frequent spews of flames posed a constant threat to the local residents throughout history; for the neolithic house of sunbaked brick, which had supporting posts of wood and whose roof was of packed earth, could be easily overturned.For example, the Italians, who initiated their excavations at the Topaklı tumulus in 1967, ascertained in the third level below the cultural strata dating from the late fifth century to the middle of the seventh century, of the Roman and Hellenistic periods (first century B.C. to first century A.D.), that in almost the settlements of these four structural levels emerged evidence of earthquakes and fires. The fourth level settlement was terminated by a violent fire and the fifth level revealed the bodies of two elderly human beings who were caught in the act of an attempt to ward off something descending upon them and the two tortured bodies of young people clearly express the terrors of an earthquake.

As a result, these geological events urged the people of Cappadocia to take shelter in the rocky formations and to produce these spatial units. But finding an answer to the question of when these spaces were first created is difficult. The archeologist Ö.Yörükoğlu indicates that when a comparison is made between the underground dwellings and the way of life developed in parallel with them and the houses of the Neolithic era they exhibit a strong similarity; just as with the inhabitants of the dwellings in the early settlements, 400 different examples of houses in the underground settlements were built on the same plan in an attached fashion and the entrances and exits were secured through the roof.

This hypothesis suggests that underground settlements were one of the oldest residential units for the inhabitants of Cappadocia. In the eras when the construction techniques of the houses of early human beings were still primitive, so that the houses lacked sufficient soundness to resist the natural disasters of earthquake and fire, the hewing of houses out of rock provided sound, unshakeable, fire resistant houses that maintained a temperature, stable in both winter and summer. In other words, they appear to have been the ideal and the most secure structure. In the rock-hewn spaces and the underground cities no evidence of any natural disaster, frost, rain or the damages of earthquake is visible. These spatial units constituted a perfect foil against the natural harshness of the Cappadocian region, where few trees grew and the summers were very hot and the winters very cold.

Generally, such structures were built on the tops of mountains or their slopes situated in spots providing security and defense. Thus, human life was protected from dangers, which enabled them to pursue life in tranquillity.  The interior space and its divisions of the fairly large underground areas occupied by the subterranean cities exhibit a parallel with each other from the perspective of being multifunctional in nature. The underground cities, therefore, sometimes give the startling impression of being living quarters that have been reproduced on a gigantic scale; such cities whose spaces have been carved out of rock leave no clues concerning their age. The time epochs during which the rocks were carved are buried in historical darkness.

The fact that the underground cities were multifunctional in character and were organized to meet all kinds of need, it is unknowable under which special conditions and demands they were created, which obviates the dating of these structures, and we are hindered in comprehending why they were created.For instance, the matter is complicated by the fact that they were equally convenient for purposes of continuous or temporary residence or emergency seclusion.These spatial units generally had no toilet facilities-with the exception of the underground cities of Tarlarin and Güzelyurt. Under the circumstances, this lends weight to the possibility that they were utilized for the purpose of going into hiding for defensive purposes.  We might posit that they each represent a “spare” city that acted as a temporary life insurance policy against life-threatening events encountered on the surface of the earth.

The constant enlarging of the underground cities and the effects of permanent residence and because succeeding civilizations have effaced the traces of those that preceded them makes it difficult to assign corresponding time phases.  The oldest levels are the entrance levels. Excavations into subterranean cities began in 1964-65, when the view was widespread that they were used by Christians for hiding. The weak aspect of this concept was that it concentrated on dating the construction of the underground cities to the Christian era while the previous eras were kept at a remove from the conceptual framework.

The recovery of a statue of a hawk eagle belonging to the Hittites in the Derinkuyu underground city, however, demonstrates that these settlements extend to a very distant past. Taking that as a starting point and tracing the historical strata, we were able to determine that the underground spaces were also used in the Phrygian period. At Tyana in the environs of Niğde, two Phrygian inscriptions exist containing the name “Mida;” of greater significance than the contents, however, is the fact that one of the inscriptions was carved on a round door stone.  Similarly, a square worship space belonging to the Phrygian period is located at the entrance of the under- ground city Mazıköy, and this temple contains signs indicating that it was dedicated to the goddess Kybele.

Historical soundings confirm that these underground areas were in use in a continuous manner.The most detailed information associated with the subterranean spaces belongs to the fifth century B.C.Historical evidence confirms that they were iri existence in 401 B.C. For example, Xenophon tours one such city in Cappadocia in 401 B.C. and states that “…the houses were underground and the doors were each like the mouth of a well-a nar- row outer surface beyond which its circumference is enlarged. Paths had been excavated for the use of livestock, but the human inhabitants used step ladders.Goats, sheep, câttle and fowl jointly occupied the dwellings with the children. A great quantity of wheat, barley, dried vegetables and barley wine was stored. The wine was kept in earthenware vessels, on the surface of which grains of barley were floating….This drink was too strong unless it was diluted with water.  Its taste was quite pleasant once you became accustomed to it….”What is of interest here is that Xenophon provides detailed information about the interiors of the underground dwellings and  that the people of the region were found beneath the surface of the earth at the time of a pillaging raid by Spartan irregulars and mercenary Greek soldiers. It displays the importance of these dwellings for security and defense.

In conclusion, we might inquire whether the cities on the face of the earth were built above the underground cities or whether the underground cities were hewed out of the living rock beneath the cities on the surface above or whether their construction was contemporaneous?At present no answer is forthcoming.But, currently, our interest is piqued by the knowledge that underneath or in proximity to each of the settlement areas in Cappadocia lies a subterranean city.

But, the real danger on the Nevşehir plateau was its own geopolitical position rather than any natural disaster.  In Ramsey’s words, it represented a frontier between the East and the West and a region where the spirits of the East and the West came into collision and where their respective cultures made an encounter.Consequently, Anatolia was the scene of continuous warfare and military troops were constantly on the move from east to west and from west to east to conduct warfare. The dusty roads of Cappadocia were therefore witness to very swift raids and invasions and the local inhabitants hid themselves in the underground cities to defend their lives and protect their property.

Such a practice had be implemented from the time of the coming to Anatolia  of  the  Thracians  and  continued  with  the  Scythians,  the Achaemenids, the Macedonians and the Turks, among others. Coins, for example, from the reigns of Hadrian ( 117-38 A.D.) and Justinian II (565-78 A.D.) and artefacts from other similar civilizations have been recovered from various levels of the underground cities. From the seventh and eighth centuries onwards, attacks by the Arabs were increasing in intensity.

The Arabs called the underground cities “Matamir.”  Rather than conquer the Cappadocian region, they hoped to seize the wealth of the region in the form of wheat, barley, slaves and livestock and, for this reason, they orga- nized swift assaults.According to the Arab chroniclers, a number of matamir were also captured during these raids; for instance, Yakubi reports that El-Mamun seized many matamir.Tabari also relates that Gaffar ebu Dinar conquered the citadels and matamirs on the Nevşehir plateau in the year 863-64. In the tenth and subsequent centuries, references to matamirs increase in number in the Arab sources; Masu’di informs us that another underground city was seized in the fifth Byzantine province “Al-Q,abadug,” where the Cappadocians kept their stores of wheat. Among the Arab chroniclers,  Ibn  Hurdadbeh  makes the  most  intriguing definition  of  the “Underground Land or Land of Subterranean Cities” and names the following cities as underground settlements: Magida (Niğde), Balansa, Malandasa (Melendiz),  Koumla,  Malakouba  (Derinkuyu),  Badala,  Barnawa  and Salamoun.

In times of war, the underground cities were utilized by the local inhabitants and even as fortresses by military garrisons.  Further, N. Thierry’s research indicates that these cities were situated on the Byzantine military lines.  Nicephor Phocas in reference to the military strategical elements of the Cappadocian region states that special observer units were stationed to  south of the great Karahöyük and the subterranean settlements of the tumuli that are visible 500 meters east of the underground village of Ören associated with the village of Yeşilöz that lies on the Avanos-Gülşehir road.

In the Derinkuyu underground city, the transition from the first level to the second level is linked by a corridor with a stone door. The entrance to the first floor exhibits no resemblance to the other floors, because it possesses no similar system. It opens directly to the outside and displays characteristics that differ from those observed in the Roman Byzantine periods.  Our attention is drawn by the late Hittite rock inscriptions that appear in the vicinity of the underground cities in these and even earlier periods.The aim of constructing these underground cities was to provide temporary shelter for the local inhabitants in the face of hostile elements of all kinds. Once the danger had passed, a return was made to normal life on the surface. In the flow of history, the Cappadocian region was constantly under threat of various kinds of assaults, and the local inhabitants constructed these kinds of places, which are unique and have no equal in the world. From every house on the surface, a secret passage led to openings in the earth that provided temporary refuge in the underground city in times of danger.

Regardless of whether the underground cities were built for military, civilian or defensive purposes, the reason for their existence requires a simultaneous search for both the associated data and events that have vanished in the depths of history.