It’s 7:40AM Thursday August 12 and I’m writing this from Urgup, Turkey. Urgup is a city of about 15,000 people located in the south-central part of the country in the region known as Cappadocia. The city is about 18 kilometers east of Nevsehir. The terrain is mostly flat with some hills and looks dry, with few trees. The countryside is in shades of honey-brown and tan interspersed with a bit of green.
The guide book says the area around Urgup has “a spectacular natural setting and is in a wonderful location at the very heart of central Cappadocia.”
This is an international tourist destination and is rapidly becoming a holiday destination for many Turkish people. Tourists arrive to see the unusual rock formations known as “fairy chimneys” and the ancient Byzantine caves which were churches and houses carved out of the sides of the hills.
On Wednesday, August 11th we flew from Ataturk Airport in Istanbul to Nevsehir in about an hour and a half. When we landed at the Nevsehir airport, we were the only plane on the tarmac. Nevsehir is the provincial capital city of the Cappadocia region with a population of about 81,000 people. According to local legends, if you set eyes on the beautiful view from Nevsehir’s hilltop castle, you will be compelled to stay there for seven years. It must be an ancient story, because Nevsehir is an ugly modern town that offers travellers little incentive to linger.
As our guide, Armen, casually commented, “it looks like a lunar landscape.” We collected our luggage and followed Armen out to the waiting van and our driver, Seljuk. We loaded up the van and were on our way to explore Cappadocia!
Thank goodness, the van is a big tall white 12-seater Mercedes equipped with air-conditioner and small refrigerator stocked with bottles of water. Yesterday when we left Istanbul, the temperature was 30 degrees Celsius at 8:00 in the morning. When we stepped out of the airplane in Nevsihir at 12:00 noon, it felt like we had stepped into an oven.
We boarded our van and Seljuk drove us to the Perissia Hotel in Urgup. The hotel is huge and I cannot imagine it filled to capacity.
Imagine a dry, dusty, rocky, brown desert and in the middle of it there is a large luxurious business-type hotel with air conditioning, spa, pool, concierge, buffet meals, lounge, bar (yes, bar for the non-Muslim tourists) and gift shop.
That’s the Perissia Hotel in Urgup. Today we’re sharing the hotel with a large jabbering tour group from Italy. Someone said that August weather is too hot and it is the “off-season” to visit the Cappadocia region. Spring and fall were the right times to come here and that the hotels were fully booked. Perissia, we were told, means “fairy” in Turkish.
After a short stop at the Perissia Hotel to freshen up, we all boarded the van and Seljuk drove us to see the natural sights of the region around Nevsehir and Urgup.
The Cappadoccia region of Turkey and it is famous for its unusual rock formations, called “fairy chimneys”. The Turkish name for these natural formations is peribacalari, which means capped earth pillars or erosion columns. They were created by erosion which removed the lava covering ancient volcanic ash, leaving behind isolated pinnacles. The tallest ones reach a height of 40 meters. Local villagers call them simply “kalelar” which means castles.
Here we are: the 7 FRUSA Cousins
We drove through Goreme National Park and stopped to take photographs. We did not enter the caves or hike up into the hills because it really was too hot. Goreme is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Goreme was first settled during the Roman period in history when Christianity was the prevailing religion. This is evident from the many churches that were carved into the rocks. The area is rich with Byzantine art, rock dwellings, and underground towns.
We stopped and parked in the village of Goreme. The cave dwellings could be seen behind modern shops. We entered a “grocery” store which was selling small watermelons, dried fruits and nuts, and postcards.
We drove up and down the hills of Cappadocia to see the unique rock formations from many viewpoints. They were truly amazing! I would like to return to this region some time in the future, during cooler weather, to explore the caves and spend some time here.
Afterwards, we drove to a pottery manufacturer which created hand-mad ceramics using ancient techniques and designs. We saw a demonstration of how to make a pitcher on a potter’s wheel and watched the painting and firing processes. Finally, we were led into the storage rooms and encouraged to purchase their beautiful hand-made ceramics.
It was getting late and we returned to the Perissia Hotel to relax before dinner. A few of the cousins went for a dip in the beautiful outdoor pool before we gathered in the buffet dining room.
Lobby of the Perissia Hotel
Right now I have to join my cousins for breakfast in the dining room.
We’re on our way to Evereg-Fenesse to find the location where my cousin Roseanne’s grandparents were born. This is the Abajian and Donikian families.
To be continued…..