- Day 1, Cappadocia: Meskendir Valley, Red and Rose Valleys, Cavusin city
- Day 2, Cappadocia: Pasabag, Zelve and Dervent valleys, Urgup city
- Day 3, Cappadocia: Pigeon Valley, Uchisar city and Valley of Love
- Day 4, Cappadocia: Görkünder, Zemi valleys and failure in the Balkan valley
- Day 5, Cappadocia: Goreme Open Air Museum
The next Cappadocian day began with Pigeon Valley(Güvercınlık Vadisi), which is located near Goreme.
The scheme found on the Internet turned out to be of little use, so we went on a whim, knowing only that we needed to eventually get to Uchisar. Having reached the fork, we chose the leftmost one of the three gorges.
Gradually the path became less and less trampled, until it eventually ran into a sheer cliff. I had to return to the fork.
We chose the rightmost gorge and were not mistaken, it led us to Uchisar(Uçhisar). The city is located on a hill and can be seen from afar, from almost anywhere in Cappadocia. The landscape is typical, fabulous.
In the center of Uchisar there is a fortress, to which it takes 10-15 minutes to walk up the hill. This 60-meter fortress is considered the most high point Cappadocia. The entire hill is built up with hotels.
The road to the fortress is replete with tourist shops selling necessary and not so necessary junk.
Entrance to the fortress is paid, but only to the very top. We decided to start our exploration from below, going around the fortress on the left side.
We never made it to the paid top, because we climbed up from the other side of it and from there we admired the surrounding landscapes to our heart’s content.
Cappadocia never ceases to amaze with its bizarre forms, when it seems that nature can’t do anything funnier, something like this appears.
Million dollar view!
After enjoying the views from Uchisar, we headed towards Valley of Love(Bağlıdere Vadisi).
Love Valley business card. Guess why it's called that))
Farewell - another gnome house.
According to tradition, we reached Goreme on foot.
Helpful information
What to pay attention to: if you want to get through Pigeon Valley to Uchisar, go along the rightmost gorge.
Ticket price to Uchisar fortress: 5 lira
Working hours: from 08:00 to sunset.
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There is a place on earth that is truly created for people who love each other, and by looking at it you can immediately understand why. Even its name is appropriate - “Valley of Love” (Love Valley), but among the people this place has another more indecent name - “Penis Valley”, it is located in Cappadocia, Turkey.
Once in the Valley of Love, you can note that this is some kind of extraterrestrial area, it looks so unusual and fantastic, our nature never ceases to amaze us with its natural formations. Millions of years ago, volcanoes raged here, spewing tons of ash and lava and covering the rocks and valleys with them. Under the influence of rains and winds, softer rocks were washed out and weathered, and those that were stronger protruded to the surface, and so interesting rock formations appeared throughout the territory of Cappadocia, and in each area they are unique in their own way. So in “Valley of Love” they were expressed in the form of pillars with a pronounced cone-like top.
These stone pillars are called peribajaları (Turkish Peri bacaları, “fairy fireplaces”) and consist entirely of tuff; in the upper part they are covered with basalt and andesite, protecting the “hat” of the pillar from the action of rain and winds. The lower part gradually becomes thinner, this is how you get some kind of “phalos”, this continues until the part under the “hat” becomes so thin that the “hat” is destroyed. Having lost its protective part, the pillar is completely destroyed by the forces of nature. The average height of the pillars is 20-30 meters, but there are also 40-meter giants. The Valley of Love stretches for four kilometers between the cities of Goreme and Uchissar.
Getting to this valley is not so easy, since it is not possible to get here by bus, and you can’t drive everywhere by car; streams run along the roads. In order to get here, you need to walk about 10 kilometers, along a highway under the hot, scorching sun, then along a dirt road, then you will need to go through a cave and a little more along a winding road. Yes... this valley is so inaccessible, that’s why there are very few tourists in this area. But here you can meet local residents who have vegetable gardens and pastures near the valley.
This romantic place It’s better to visit the “Valley of Love” together with your loved one; they say if you conceive children in this place, they will certainly be born beautiful and healthy.
The Valley of Love is a cluster of rocks of bizarre shapes in the historical region of Turkey - Cappadocia. A popular attraction near Goreme Park.
The valley got its name from the shapes of the rocks, which look like phalluses, as a result of which the valley also has another name - the Valley of the Penises. The Cappadocia mountainous region was formed by volcanic eruptions that occurred here millions of years ago. Rocks of this shape were formed due to rain and winds washing away and weathering softer volcanic rocks.
The Valley of Love extends for 4 km. between the cities of Uchisar and Goreme. The height of the rocky outcrops reaches 20-40 m. It is interesting to examine them both from the ground and from the air (there are many offers of balloon flights over Cappadocia in the region).
And of course, like many world attractions, the valley has its own belief. It is believed that if you conceive a child in the Valley of Love, he will definitely be born with good health and beauty.
Valley of Love- really beautiful place for traveling for two. The valley occupies part of a huge territory called Cappadocia, which is located in Central Turkey. It received its romantic name thanks to natural pillars phallic shape, with which it is completely covered. It is from this amazing place that many lovers begin their vacation in Turkey.
Cappadocia is truly amazing place. About 70 million years ago, its vast territory was cut up and down by cracks and covered with layers of magma as a result of numerous volcanic eruptions. Under the influence of the sun, winds, rains and snow, soft rocks were gradually washed out and weathered, which led to the formation of incredible natural phenomena– strange hilly valleys, amazing mountains and rocks of such bizarre shapes that it is often difficult to believe that all this was created by nature. The particularly soft rocks of this area, which were easily machined, allowed people to build not only homes, monasteries and churches, but also entire cities right inside the rocks.
Valley of Love stretches for four kilometers between the cities of Goreme and Uchissar. Interestingly, in Cappadocia there are many most interesting places and attractions that are not tourist attractions at all. The same applies to the Valley of Love, which, for some unknown reason, is not indicated as a landmark on many regional maps. What any traveler will like most is this complete absence of crowds of tourists. And this is probably due to the inaccessibility - it is not possible to get here by bus, and you can’t drive everywhere by car, streams run along the roads.
Here you can meet only a few local residents who have vegetable gardens and pastures. In addition, this place is not so popular, and many of those who have already visited Cappadocia can note that it all consists of similar landscapes, and the Valley of Love is not at all unique. However, one can argue with this belief because not everywhere a person has the opportunity to enjoy such fantastic views, and even together, or even alone.
By the way, Cappadocia is especially good in May– everything is blooming, smelling, the air is clean and fresh, and even filled with the wonderful aroma of herbs. True, in the spring it rains quite often and there is much less sunlight, so it is better to take waterproof, comfortable shoes and warmer clothes with you.
The Valley of Love looks pretty funny, and it doesn't start with such figured landscapes. In addition, you may not notice in the photo that the crevices are very deep - about fifty meters. In fact, the valley turns out to be not at all a plain, as it might seem if observed from above, but in fact the basis of this magical beauty is very simple processes: below are softer rocks, above is a harder rock, hanging like a cap. As a result, these huge fairy-tale “phalluses” should slowly but surely turn into mushrooms)
Valley of Love
Wide famous Valley Love, Love Valley, (Valley of the Phalluses). Its name speaks for itself - huge stone phalluses 20-30 meters high have confused and surprised more than one generation of earthlings.
It is believed that if you conceive children in the Valley of Love, they will certainly be born beautiful and healthy.
The Valley of Love is located in Cappadocia, which lies in the heart of Turkey, far from the main highways and Mediterranean resorts. But every year it is visited by about one and a half million tourists from all over the world. There are still few of our fellow countrymen among them - the beaches of Antalya are dearer to their hearts.
Valley of Love - aka Valley of Phalluses
Cappadocia has earned worldwide fame thanks to rock sculptures created by nature itself - giant tuff “mushrooms”, multi-colored stone dunes... There is even a camel carved by the wind! The best words to describe local landscapes are “alien” and “fantastic”. Meanwhile, the origin of these miracles is completely earthly.
Millions of years ago, volcanoes raged here, spewing tons of ash and lava and covering the rocks and valleys with them. Under the influence of rain and winds, softer rocks were washed out and weathered, and those that were stronger protruded to the surface. This is how peribadjalars were formed - single-peaked and multi-peaked pillar rocks with “caps” on the tops. The most bizarre peribajalars can be seen in the Valley of Love. They say it was named so because nothing can be heard here except birdsong. But if you remember another, “folk” name - the Valley of the Phalluses, then no explanation is needed!
Landmarks of Cappadocia - and underground cities, the largest of which, Kaymakli and Derinkuyu, are called by the Turks the eighth wonder of the world. They were discovered by accident and not so long ago - in the 60s of the last century. On the upper floors of Derinkuyu the Hittites were still hiding from their enemies. Then the city was deepened and expanded by many successive peoples, who also had to hide, and the first Christians, who were persecuted, adapted it to their needs.
These underground structures are called cities almost without exaggeration. For example, Derinkuyu goes 8 floors deep, and in some places 18, has 1,200 rooms connected by underground passages, and has many ventilation shafts and wells. Thousands of people could live in such a city, and Greek historians claim that the entire army of Alexander the Great stopped here for the night! But archaeologists have not yet discovered any traces of the life activity of the inhabitants of underground cities. This is such an unsolved mystery!
Cave Suite - $945 per night
Modern buildings of Cappadocia, the height of which does not exceed 6.5 m (an exception is made for minarets), fit organically into the surrounding landscape. The houses consist of two parts: above ground, built from volcanic tuff, and underground, carved into the rock. Due to the fact that the air temperature underground does not change and remains at +15 degrees, the dungeon can serve as a refuge from both heat and cold.
But, going deeper into the rocks, local residents take with them all the benefits of civilization. Signs of present-day Cappadocia - solar panels and satellite dishes on the roofs of houses, cars in cave-garages, comfortable hotels, restaurants and entertainment centers. We were shown the beautifully equipped hotel "Kaya", which means "rock", the premises of which are, for the most part, carved out of the rock. High vaulted ceilings and chisel marks on the rough walls, coolness infused with the smell of stones, but at the same time comfort. And privacy is a luxury for the modern urban neurasthenic! A single-occupancy “cave” can be rented for $110 per day, a double-occupancy one for $150.
And if you want to relax “in a rich way,” you can stay at the Anatolien House boutique hotel near the town of Avanos. There we visited one of the three-room cave suites - the so-called Roman room. It has its own museum exhibition in a recess behind glass - vases, jugs, plates from the Roman era - taking you back to the past, and a wall-mounted TV, Jacuzzi bathtub and shower cabin bring you back to the present day. The hotel has a small grotto-shaped pool - if you turn one tap, red wine will flow, the other - white. A day of such heavenly life costs $945. Expensive? Out of season, the owners are willing to give up $20
http://animalworld.com.ua
“Here in Cappadocia is one of the wildest places in the world. Mountains of soft volcanic tuff were blown by winds and centuries, turning into what seems to be the magic tricks of Antoni Gaudi - into figures of bizarre flowing outlines, which, in the absence of forests, served as shelter and housing. The wood was only for the door. Apartments and entire apartment buildings have been carved into these rocks since the times of the Hittites.
(Peter Weil “Genius of the Place”).
Cappadocia owes its formation to the action of two successive phenomena that took place as early as 65-62 million years ago. At first, this area, surrounded by volcanic mountains, was constantly filled with lava, layer after layer, until the mountainous area became a relatively flat plateau. Then the volcanoes cooled and erosion began. Thanks to the sharply continental climate of Cappadocia with sudden and significant temperature changes, cracks began to form in the rocks of the solidified lava. Water and ice contributed to the destruction of the rocks, along with heavy rainfall and the influence of rivers. Over time, individual hills were formed from the volcanic rock. In place of the plateau, valley crevices formed.
And this is exactly how the “Stone Pillars” were formed - peribadjalars in the form of stone mushrooms and stone pillars of bizarre shapes and outlines. At the top of these pillars there are basalts, and at the bottom there are tuffs. Since tuffs are softer and more easily susceptible to the influence of nature, the tuff at the base of the basalt caps gradually erodes or crumbles, which leads to the thinning of the pillars themselves and their gradual collapse.
