-- Hannah Holmes, Nat'l Geo. Traveler
Millions of years ago, three volcanoes erupted in Cappadocia, spreading a thick layer of hot volcanic ash that eventually hardened into a soft, porous stone called tufa.
Over aeons of geological time wind, water, and sand erosion wore away portions of the tufa, carving it into elaborate and unearthly shapes. The tufa was easily worked with primitive tools and the inhabitants learned early that sturdy dwellings could be cut from it with a minimum of fuss. A cave could be carved out very quickly and, if the family expanded, more easy carving could produce a nursery or storeroom in next to no time.
When invaders flooded across the land bridge between Europe and Asia, Cappadocians went underground, carving elaborate multi-level cave cities beneath the surface of the earth and only coming to the surface to tend their fields.
When Christianity arrived in Cappadocia, its adherents found that cave churches, complete with elaborate decoration, could be carved from the rock as easily as dwellings. Large Christian communities thrived here and their rock-hewn churches became a unique art form. Arab armies swept through in the 7th century but the Christians retreated into their caves again, rolling stone wheel-doors across the entrances.
Many of the caves and villages were inhabited by the descendants of these early settlers until this century, when the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire forced the reorganization of the Middle East along ethno-political lines.
--Lonely Planet guide to Turkey
