Rocks. Big ones. Weird ones.
Rock churches.
Sounds like a place where the faithful gather on Sundays and the choir belts out some Springsteen.
Unfortunately, the rock churches we visited at the Goreme Open Air Museum in Cappadocia were established for worshipers who were escaping religious persecution. A whole network of churches and living quarters were made in these formations originally created by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago.
We channeled our inner Flintstone to understand (and when appropriate, imitate) how the cave dwellers lived. One slab of rock was a table. Some indentations in the walls were used for storage. Soot on the ceiling indicated that we were in the kitchen. We also tried to stand within earshot of the big group tours to get a fact or two in.
Take that audio guide.
Not surprising, we were one of the last ones to leave the museum. Intrigued by our full day of novice spelunking, we went to investigate the non-official caves across the street from the museum. We were not alone and met a family doing the same. The matriarch of that family was definitely an opportunist and began picking some weed-like plants from alongside the caves. From what we could understand from her emphatic gesturing, they were herbs that she’s going to put in soup later. Smart woman.
We continued shuffling and climbing around the rocks until the sun let us down. Though tempted to forage like our new friend, we opted for another round of kebabs and pide instead.
Rock On.
