Sip back and discover Turkey as we explore the enchanting geodiversity of Love Valley (Aşıklar Vadisi) in Cappadocia. This distinctive and intensely dissected natural landscape featuring rock cones known as fairy chimneys have been shaped by multiple volcanic eruptions by the convergence of the Afro-Arabian and Eurasian plate tectonics. Its these eruptions that laid down a succession of thick layers of volcanic ash called ignimbrite along with andesite and was capped-off by basalt dating back to the Late Miocene Epoch and early Holocene from around 10 million years ago. As the basalt cooled and contracted it fractured exposing the softer and porous volcanoclastic ignimbrite to erosion by the natural forces of wind, rain and fluctuations in temperature over several million years. The outcome was the formation of hundreds maybe even thousands of mushroom-shaped rock pillars protected by harder capstones reaching heights of up to 30 - 40 meters.
Cappadocia is nearly a 4-hour drive south east from Ankara or a short flight to Nevşehir-Kapadokya Airport (NAV) if your destination is Cappadocia and one of the towns of Avanos, Ürgüp, Uçhisar, Göreme or Nevşehir. Cappadocia lays within the complex collision zone of the Alpine-Himalayan Orogenic Belt known as the Central Anatolia Volcanic Complex and specifically the Cappadocian Volcanic Province in a semi-arid region of central Turkey.
This former volcanic field still today has the backdrop of several stratovolcanoes including Mount Erciyes (Erciyes Dağı - 3,917m), Mount Hasan (Hasan Dağı - 3,069m), and Mount Melendiz (Melendiz Dağı -2,963m).
Love Valley is one of several valleys including Rose and Red Valley found in the natural UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites where the ancient underground cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı have been carved into the ignimbrite as subterranean complexes to once shelter several thousands of people from persecution during several historical military incursions between the 7th and early 11th centuries including the Arab Raids of the Umayyad Caliphate.
The largest underground city is in Derinkuyu and has a depth of approximately 55 meters with 6 floors. The entrances to these underground cities were discrete and well designed having rooms and connecting tunnels, air and waste shafts, wells and even kitchens were carved into the rock.
Examples of Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia
One of the most popular activities in Cappadocia is staying at a luxury boutique hotel for a weekend of cave therapy, taking a sunrise hot air balloon ride and sleeping in rooms carved into soft volcanic rock.
