IHLARA
AND BELISIRAMA VALLEYS
In
Cappadocia are the remarkable Ihlara and Belisirama valleys, two historical
and geological treasures of Turkey that were inaccessible to travelers for a
long time due to their location in the Hasan Dag region of central Anatolia.
Magnificent landscape, mosques, and churches of this region provide a richly
textured panorama of Anatolian history, religion, culture, art, and
architecture.
In
order to reach these valleys the visitor must cross vast expanses of arid
plains where the parched earth is occasionally punctuated by patches of green
trees and grass, which reveal the presence of small rivers. Hasan Dag rises
majestically above these plains where peasants tend their flocks, cultivate
their wheat fields and ride their donkeys as their ancestors did for thousands
of years. The rectangular stone houses and nearby rock-cut caves blend into
the slopes of the mountains formed over the millennia due to erosion by wind,
rain, and climatic changes, and nestle side by side with the unusual
"fairy chimneys" of Cappadocia. One is struck by both the landscape
and the lifestyle of the inhabitants which, in some magical fashion, seem to
have made time stand still.
