The Valley of Ihlara

The breath-taking natural beauty of Ihlara becomes our second visit of our 2^nd day trip. It is a valley lies between the Ihlara village and the Selime village to its north. It actually consisted of eight kilometers long, but as the valley draws almost 30 meanders between these villages, the road extends to 15 kilometers for the visitors. The Melendiz river then cut through the 100 meters thick layers creating a canyon which is 15 kilometers long and 150 meters deep.

The early Christians built a number of monasteries in these valleys, which were almost hidden from the sight and were geographically hard to reach. Therefore these buildings didn’t suffer much from the invaders. After the Seldjuk Turks came to this area and founded the empire, the names of the Seldjuk Sultan and the Byzantine emperor appeared together in one of the churches. This situation is to be interpreted as an evidence of Seldjuk tolerance towards the Christian population.

The valleys of Ihlara had been a place of escape for many monks coming from Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. It was not until recent times that these hidden valleys attracted the attention of researchers and historians. The French researchers Nicole and Michel Thierry started to observe and investigate Cappadocia in 1950, and with the consistent publications of the Ihlara specialists since 1958, visitors from all over the world started to come to this region.

The Fairy Chimneys as Symbols of Cappadocia

One of the most impressive view of Cappadocia to my astonishment is its peculiar, naturally-carved fairy chimneys. There are lots of fairy chimneys to be found in this land, which render a fabulous scenery to Cappadocia as the results of a geological phenomenon that lasted for millions of years.

The story of these chimneys started with the volcanic eruptions of the region. The fairy chimneys came into existence at the suitable areas through the rains and the erosions of the 4^th Geological Time. They sometimes reach a height of 40 meters, conical in shape, and have a “hat” of basalt over them. The phenomenon of erosion thins out the neck underneath the “hat” which in the end cannot be carried by the cone anymore and drops down. Such a fairy chimney will then be left without protection and will be eroded further. This phenomenon takes place continually even today and the very old chimneys get replaced by the younger ones.

One of the best examples of these natural wonders is located in Ürgüp, which we visited later that day. It is one of the prettiest cities of the regions with its splendid castle and Turkish architecture right in the middle of the city. Unfortunately we only had the occasion to watch and take photographs of the chimneys. Hopefully next time, insya Allah…

(published in The Muslim Reader magazine, Singapore, October issue, 2007)