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Turkey's Cappadocia region
is famous for its spectacular
landscapes,
fairy
chimneys and
painted churches cut
into the rock.
The richest concentration of beautifully-decorated
cave churches is in the Göreme
Open Air Museum, an entire volcanic
valley full of them, well-preserved
and open to the public.
But what about cave homes? In
the past, it was only possible to visit
a real troglodyte residence if you
were acquainted with the homeowner.
Now, however, my colleague Pat
Yale and longtime Göreme resident Ruth
Lockwood of Tribal
Collections Nomadic Rugs & Textiles have
teamed to open doors to some of their
town's most interesting cave homes,
and to preserve the unique troglodyte
lifestyle of the town of Göreme at
the same time.
Pat and Ruth organize cave house tours
each spring and fall. In 2008, the
spring tours will be on Saturday,
May 24th at 14:00 (2 pm),
and Sunday,
May 25th at
10:30 am. The tour lasts about two
to three hours, for a donation of YTL15
per person.
It’s
a rare
opportunity to
see not just what traditional cave
houses looked like but also what
can be done to turn them into comfortable
modern homes. There is a fee for the
tours, and all of the money goes
to the Old Göreme Restoration
Fund in support of historic
preservation.
Cave house tours are offered only
a few days each year, and the number
of places is quite limited. If you
are in Capppadocia on one of
those
days,
I urge you to grab this rare
opportunity for
a peek into a thousand-year-old lifestyle...with
all the modern conveniences.
The tours are not expensive and all
proceeds go to the Old Göreme Restoration
Fund.
Please
note that most houses have a lot of stairs and
at
least one
is
unsuitable
for anyone with cat allergies. The
tours are not suitable for children
under 12.
To reserve your place, contact Ruth
or Pat:
Ruth Lockwood
Tel +90 (384) 271 2400
rlockwood_2000@yahoo.com
Pat
Yale
+90 (384) 271 2916
Cappadocia Cave Hotels
Göreme
Town
Göreme
Open Air Museum
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