The formations were formed over thousands of years. Originally the region was underwater and there was an inland sea here. A layer of sandstone formed. The sea dried up and there was lots of volcanic activity. Ash fell forming a layer of tuff (compressed ash). Then lava flowed on top of the tuff, cooling to form basalt. The volcanoes stopped erupting and the area underwent erosion over the centuries with the tuff layer being the most susceptible to the weather. 
Now the landscape is a series of valleys and pillars where you can see the sandstone layer with tuff on top and basalt caps on top on the tuff. The valleys are all slightly different due to the colour of the rocks and the shapes formed by nature.
Here we are walking in Red Valley, White Valley and Rose Valley (the colour of the rocks being red, white and rose!). It was over 35 degrees each day but Ergun (our trusty leader) passionately wanted to show us the wonders near his home town.
This is Pigeon Valley. The locals carved pigeon houses in the side of the cliffs. Pigeon poo is a fantastic fertiliser for the crops in the valley below. 
Can you see why this one is called Love Valley?
Pottery is an important craft for the people of Cappadocia, with clay coming from the nearby Red River. We stopped by a ceramic workshop for a display by the master potter. He used the age-old kick wheel which requires the user to manually kick the spinning wheel.
Then the apprentice had a shot. Luckily they had a spare pair of extremely unattractive pants to wear so I didn't get too filthy. 
After firing the shaped clay in a kiln (at 700 degrees!) the plates/vases/pots are intricately painted. The workshop has hundreds of traditional pieces like this Hitite wine flask that Greg is modelling.
1 comment:
The picture 3rd from the bottom in this blog makes me laugh!
Post a Comment