Description of the attraction
In Cappadocia, in an area of about 30 by 20 km (the Nevsehir-Avanos-Urgup triangle), there are amazing tuff rocks of the most bizarre shapes. The reason is that this is the result of the eruption of the Erdjiyash volcano, which occurred in very ancient times. Streams of lava mixed with ash poured into the Goreme Valley and covered an area of several thousand square kilometers in a thick layer. Then, over the long centuries, the winds carried away, the rains washed away the light rocks, and the frozen lava and compressed ash gradually turned into tuff - soft in processing and at the same time durable building material.
There are about 400 churches in the vicinity of Goreme. Some were built by early Christians during the time of Basil the Great (century), but most date back to the 9th-11th centuries, the period of iconoclasm and Seljuk rule. The latest church was built shortly before the Mongol invasion in the 13th century.
The most famous are: the 11th century St. Basil Church with many frescoes; the Church of St. Barbara, decorated with geometric patterns of red ocher; a church with sandals, named after two recesses on the floor at the entrance, with preserved frescoes from the 11th century; Serpentine church with frescoes depicting St. George with a dragon, Emperor Constantine and his wife Helen, St. Onuphria; The curved church is one of the largest churches with paintings of the 10th century depicting scenes from the life of Christ.
