One of the more unknown regions is Central Anatolia (İç Anadolu), the actual historical heartland of the Turks. In terms of landscape, Central Anatolia is characterized not only by some wooded low mountain ranges, the Taurus Mountains in the southern part and the tuff landscapes of Cappadocia, but also by dry steppe areas of the inner Anatolian plateau. Central Anatolia is known for its hot summers (cold nights!) and frosty winters.
Worth seeing and of historical importance are the two former parliament buildings from the early republican period, which now serve as museums, and the old citadel in the city centre. The “Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi)”, known as the “Hittite Museum”, enjoys an international reputation as one of the most important archaeological museums in the world. Near the old town, in the Kocatepe district, rises the mighty Kocatepe Mochee, inaugurated in 1987.
A good 200 km south of the capital Ankara, the city of Konya is located on a plateau flanked by mountains up to 2,300 m high. The place, which was already populated in pre-Christian times, was the residence of the powerful Rum Seljuk sultans in the Middle Ages. Today Konya is known as a centre of conservative Islamic movements.
Eskişehir, surrounded by mountains and forests, is culturally influenced by its two major universities. The city, known for its meerschaum tradition (“Stone of Eskişehir”), boasts excellent cultural offerings such as opera performances, concerts and the annual “International Eskişehir Festival” as well as the “Kent Park” adventure park.
Until recently, the area's residents used the softness of the rock to build apartments, Christian religious buildings, storerooms and stables, as well as hiding places from marauding strangers. Over time, entire settlement complexes with up to 10,000 inhabitants emerged, some of which were connected by corridors. One of the most famous of these cave cities is Göreme, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and is located near Nevşehir.
In the southeast of Turkey, as part of our project, we followed the traces of the Roman road from Samosata towards Militene and came across the ancient Roman arched bridge over the Chabinas River near the town of Eski Kahta.
After a few years, acquaintances that arose during the Travel Turkey trade fair in Izmir led us to travel again to Cappadocia, this incredibly fascinating landscape that has been shaped over thousands of years by volcanoes, soil erosion and erosion in the interaction of the natural forces of water and wind were created.
We were coming from Niğde / Cappadocia in the direction of Aksaray, when we probably had chosen the wrong junction in the village of Bor, which had now led us along the mountains of Hasan Dağı to the village of Altunhisar.
In the history of human settlements, there have been a wide variety of structures in the creation of village communities, all of which have by no means been explored and thus known.
Once again, the cloudless sky on the Turkish Riviera near Alanya promises good weather conditions for a trip across the Taurus Mountains towards Konya. Since winter is over in the high mountains too, we decide again to take the Mahmutlar route in the direction of Taskent.
Especially in the last 5 years, the provincial capital of Konya (the province of Konya is as big as Switzerland) has developed at breakneck speed.
In the immediate vicinity of the city of Kırşehir, which now also has around 110,000 inhabitants, there is an important local recreation destination for the city, which is now also attracting a lot of attention among friends of bird watching and nature conservation, the Seyfe Lake.
Coming from Güzelyurt (Province of Aksaray) we stop at the parking lot of the Ihlara Valley (Ihlara Vadisi), which is known for its numerous rock-cut churches, which is cleverly framed by several restaurants at the entrance area.
During our tour through southwestern Cappadocia, we came to Güzelyurt, a small town of approx. 3,100 inhabitants, which is about 32 kilometers east of the provincial capital Aksaray.
When you talk about the great rivers of Turkey, you immediately think of the two great rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris. However, both rivers leave Turkish territory again after relatively short stretches.
Having been involved in the activities and surroundings of Karaman city lately and as we tried to learn the history of the city, we discovered that there is an ethno/religious side to her name "Karaman".
UNESCO-World Cultural and Natural Heritage Cappadocia is located at the centre of a region which used to have intense volcanic activity and it added a lot of value to the lay of the region. While Anatolia basically consists of big lakes and tropical swamps, it can be seen that animals, plants and carnivores dating to very old times were dominant in the region.
After we returned to our vehicle from the venture we made into the stream, we came to “Keşlik Monastery”, which is also known as “Archenclos”, residential area of stone houses near Cemilköy.
These rocks were partially carved out and only thin walls were left.
Eskisehir (in ancient times it's name was Dorylaion) has got about 706.000 inhabitants and because of that is one of the biggest cities of Anatolia and as well capital city of the region of the same name. Today there is a well known university called Anadolu University and a huge air craft base of NATO.
Kırşehir is one of our most important cities in the Anatolian region. Kırşehir is located 156 km south-east of Ankara. The city’s beginning point leads to Hethitern. During the excavations 5000 year old settlementregions Hashöyük (3500-2000 v. Chr.) and Kalehöyük (1700-600 v. Chr.) were found in our today’s province Kırşehir.
Nevşehir, the gate to Cappadocia, is a traffic key point and since a short time a market and administration centre, that was founded in 1954. The name derives from the Persian Nau (translated intoTurkish as Nev) for New and Schahr (translated into Turkish as Şehir) for City and means New City.
The eastern part of the Taurus Mountains consists of massive rocks stretching from the West and increasing in height to the East.
Our second night was also very comfortable and it was breezy enough to let us sleep. Then at the early hours of the day, we departed for the next valley.
If you keep going through the alleyway after passing the Karakuş facilities through the Mustafapaşa Road at the west of Ürgüp, after a while you can reach Üzengi Stream which runs in parallel to the valley and where the water level isn’t so high. The valley also has an entrance from the direction of Ortahisar.
We saw very interesting wine house in the centre of Ürgüp whose garden wall was entwisted with many wine bottles. Entry of the house was also attractive.