Next on our agenda was a hike through the valley to see two more cave churches. We saw the Domed Church, which was unique as it was a church on top of another cave room. We also saw the Hidden Church which was actually beneath the path, but you had to go into a cave building and through another room to get to it. It was in a cave house near the Hidden Church that we also found our first pigeon nest. It was kind of funny after hearing 2 full days of how important pigeons were to the people living in the caves (so much so that they made caves just for the pigeons to roost) that it took us so long to actually find a nest.
After making it through the valley, we ended up at a small village for lunch. The food was home cooked and superb, with the best soup we’ve had on the trip, and an incredible salad. Then there was the best part of the trip, a planned for and included one hour nap.
Then we went down into another valley to the small town of Ceme where we saw a 1,000 year old Greek Church. It was repainted in 1905, and there is a note of that on the church, so most people miss-interpret it as only being 100 years old. This was at a time when Greeks and Turks lived together in some communities; the Greeks had their church, and the Turks their mosque. After Ataturk came to power Greece and Turkey did a population exchange, with most of the Greeks living in Turkey being moved to Greece, and vice versa.
Next we went to the Turasan Winery in Ürgüp where we tasted a few wines and bought 3 bottles. Just outside of town there were large rock strutures that we again stopped for a couple quick pictures.
No comments:
Post a Comment