Göreme National Park

Goreme, Turkey's national park in Cappadocia, is essentially an open-air museum. The park area is quite impressive and is 300 ^km2. Goreme is known to many for its unique landscapes, in which people have carved monasteries and entire settlements for centuries.

Goreme Park has a rich religious history. From the 6th to the 9th century, it was the largest Christian center, at that time there were at least four hundred churches in Goreme. Cappadocia was given its name by the Romans and translates as "the land of white horses."

In total, there are several dozen settlements in the rocks on the territory of the park, as well as six churches. One of the most important churches is St. Basil's Church. Saint Basil was bishop of Cappadocia in the 6th century and over the years of his life developed the monastic rule, which is used almost unchanged today. In the church you can see his images, as well as his brother - St. George, St. Theodore and the scenes described in the Gospel. In the 11th century, a Dark church was built in Goreme, so named because it is illuminated only by a small window, thanks to which the frescoes are well preserved in the church. Not far from Dark is the church with sandals, so named because of the prints at the entrance.

The amazing terrain here has been forming for 30 million years. At first, strong volcanoes covered the entire area with a large layer of lava and ash. After a while, the ashes turned into tuff, which formed colorful, bizarre rocks. In these areas, the population of Cappadocia built their own homes, as tufa is easily processed. The oldest settlements in the Harem were cut down a hundred years before our era. Gradually, monasteries and churches began to appear in the rocks.

During excavations in Goreme in 1963, 29 km from the town of Nevsehir, they found a huge underground city with a total length of corridors of more than 30 km, numbering 7 floors extending 85 meters deep. According to scientists, about 20,000 people could live in the underground city. Everything was provided for defense, in case of an attack, the entrances were closed with large round stones. In addition, the city is a huge maze through which it is impossible to pass without a map. There were also concealed wells with water in the rocks in case of a siege.

Nowadays, thousands of tourists from all over the world come to Goreme to admire the unique rock landscapes.