Cappadocia is an open air museum that exhibits what has been formed by the history of sixty million years...During the third geological period, the mountains Erciyes, Hasandagi and Güllüdag between them started to move due to the rising of the Taurus Mountains and the squeezing of northeast Anatolia plateau. The ashes accumulated in the plateau formed a soft tufa, and the basalt got cracked and divided into pieces. The rain water leaking from the cracked basalt wore away the soft tufa, and the hot and cold winds performed their duties. So, cones with hard basalt hats or the "fairy chimneys" as named by the people, were formed. The tufa layers, on the other hand, turned into valleys that looks as if made by human hands...
Around 9.000-10.000 years ago, human hand played its role. A civilization was created with the underground cities, places suitable for living, and with churches engraved in the rocks in later years...So, first the nature and then the human being presented a unique treasure to Anatolia and the whole world...
This region, between the cities Nevsehir, Nigde and Kayseri is called as Cappadocia. The name Cappadocia originates from the Persians. Its original is "Katpatuka" or "Kapatukya" which means the country of the beautiful horses...

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