Ihlara Valley
Ihlara Valley, near
Mount
Hasan (one of the three volcanoes of Cappadocia) is a canyon
with a depth of approximately 100m and was formed by the Melendiz
River thousands of years ago. It begins at Ihlara village and ends
at the village of Selime
after making 26 bends along 14 kilometers.
It is believed that the valley housed more than four thousand dwellings and a hundred
churches. It is estimated that around eighty thousand people once lived here.
It is very pleasant to walk through the Ihlara valley by the
vineyards, poplars and pistachio trees to the
soothing sound if the rushing water and surrounded by a rich wildlife of lizards, frogs,
butterflies, birds and sometimes eagles and other mammals like lambs
and sheep.
In the middle of the Ihlara valley in Belisırma
village there are good restaurants to be found.
The churches in the Valley can be divided into two groups: the Ihlara group,
including the Ağaçaltı, Pürenli Seki, Kokar,
Eğritaş and Yılanlı
churches that reflect Oriental influences, and the Belisırma group, comprising Sümbüllü Church and others with Byzantine
characteristics.
The churches of the Ihlara group display scenes dissimilar to the scenes depicted in
other Cappadocian churches. In fact, they are reminiscent of the early churches of Syria
and the Coptic churches of Egypt. The texts in Ihlara group churches are unusually long.
In this group special emphasis was laid upon Satan, and women as the source of evil.
There are many churches in the valley. However, relying on the yet undisputed
information given in Mme. and M. Thierry’s book,
we have chosen 11 of them for you to visit. |
