Cappadochia

Cappadocia, located in central Turkey, is a land out of a cartoon. Millions of years ago, volcanic eruptions covered the earth with ash, which eventually formed into soft rock. On top of this, the volcanoes occasionally spewed lava, which formed small blobs of hard rock. Over time this led to the wonderland of Cappadocia.

One of the coolest results was how the soft rock erodes away, but places where the lava landed were somewhat protected from erosion. Eventually, “fairy chimneys” were formed, which look like mushrooms or phalluses, 50 or more feet tall. In other areas where there was not much lava, the multicolored ash was eroded into graceful sculpted ridges. As far as the eye can see the land was laid out in soft, gentle curves of yellows and reds.

Ancient residents of the region discovered that the rock that had formed from the ash could be carved. Many of the fairy penises, I mean fairy chimneys, were hollowed out and made into caves for homes (now mostly hotels) or churches (now historic sites). (It is fun to live in a cave for a week, but it is damp and prone to mold so not so good for long term living.)

(Caption - Drying grapes. Cappadochia was (and still is to some extent) a wine and grape growing region)