The historical region of Cappadocia is located in Central Anatolia, and is famed for its gorgeous landscapes, historical architecture and intricate rock formations. With a past that dates back to the late 6th century BC, it has been home to the Cappadocians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans before becoming a part of modern day Turkey in 1922.
You may not have visited Cappadocia yourself, but you’ll probably be familiar with it already, given that it’s one of Turkey’s most visited regions with many images of the Hot Air Balloons which frequently transport tourists over the region adorning the travel brochures and tourist boards.
Well documented and constantly being referred to as being one of THE places to visit in Turkiye, recent figures show that in January it actually attracted a total of 174,222 visitors, which is a record-breaking achievement for that month. Popular sites included the Underground City at Kaymakli, the Open Air museum at Goreme and the Zelve Archaeological Site all of which accounted for over 124,000 of the total visitors to the area. Other popular sites within Cappadocia include the three main castles at Uçhisar, Ortahisar and Ürgüp, the historic mansions or cave houses at Güzelyurt, the fairy chimneys at Göreme and Uçhisar plus the many churches & monasteries in the towns and villages, especially the one at Gülşehir which was devoloped around AD 1000.
As there’s so much to see and do here, a one day trip just isn’t enough so many tourists decide to stay in the traditional but luxurious cave hotels that have sprung up in the valleys, towns and villages since Cappadocia became a hot tourist destination. Upon breaking the record for the number of visitors in January, Inci Sezer Becel (the Governor of Nevsehir, one of the main provinces in Central Anatolia) mentioned that ‘we are confident of the upcoming tourist season and the number of visitors to the region has already begun to see a positive growth trend. The expectation for 2023 is to break records in terms of tourist numbers, and the increase in Cappadocia is the driving force behind that growth’.
If you want further information on Cappadocia, then the official tourist site of Turkiye is the best place to go – here’s the link: https://cappadocia.goturkiye.com/
