Capaddocia, Turkey

The last 2 weeks of the deployment were a blast! There were many nights of partying and relaxing while getting ready for the trip back home. Between the parties, a bunch of us took a trip to Capaddocia Turkey, incredible! It was a 3 hour bus ride to get there but well worth the time.

The first stop of the trip was at an underground city the early Christians built circa 300AD, while hiding from the Romans. The city was 8 stories in depth, about 150 feet deep. Here is a pic of a kitchen and a passage way.

The "halls" were really tiny, but the rooms were tall enough for a 6.5 foot person to completely stand up. There were many rooms for the different families. One family from grandchildren to grandparent shared a 10x10 foot room to chill and sleep in. The city also had every support function you needed as well... kitchens, a church, and even a winery (not joking either).

The pic on the right is a Millstone. These stones were located in many of the passage ways and were used as a vault door. It took 5 men just to roll the stones into place for their protection against intruders. The hole in the middle was used as a peep-hole.

The next stop on the tour was at a carpet factory where we were taught how the Turkish culture makes their carpet. We also learned the difference between real and immatation carpets. If you want a real Turkish carpet it will cost you as 1 carpet, depending on the size, material, and area where the carpet was made, will run anywhere from a few hundred to multiple thousands of dollars.

Here I am ruining a carpet which a lady had been working on for over a month. Again, depending on the variables listed above, 1 carpet can take anywhere from a few months to a little over a year to make.

This is at lunch looking at the tallest hill in which people lived in. This area was great to see b/c there were both cave homes right next to the more modern style of living. We were told that the Capaddocians were forced to live in "regular" homes starting in the 70's b/c the Turkish government believed it to be a national embarassment to live in caves

The last stop on the tour was at an open air museum of the "caves" the early capaddocians dwelled in. There were literally hundreds of caves, which included 6 churches.

Here are a couple of pics of one of the churches we saw. The most amazing part of the churches was the artwork on all of the walls and ceilings as you can see.

The pic on the left is inside one of the caves. This was evidentally the dining room table, carved out of the mountain. Not a bad place to sit and eat... if only the table was a little higher!

Oh yeah, we also saw a camel...