Early Christians were persecuted and they lived in Cappadocia because they could easily hide in the underground and hidden areas. Places of worship were very private and small. They constructed a great many churches at this time, up to 400 in this area. Early Christians chose the Cappadocia area as it was thought to be both safe and sacred. The fairy chimneys that had three heads were meant to represent the trinity.
They were in a hidden cave city, interestingly the temperature remains constant at 17 degrees summer and winter underground, whereas summer is 40+ degrees and winter -20 degrees In this area. In the hidden cave city they were hidden from the Arabs, the Romans and many others.
Many of the churches had very crude etchings and drawings on the walls. The colours used were crushed rock for blue, brown from local tea, red from grapes, green from walnuts and yellow from saffron. These early etchings from 1st century Christians were covered over by Byzantine Greek frescoes. During earthquakes and wear and tear it is possible to see how the later frescos have fallen off revealing the original etchings. In the church of St Barbara it is easy to see a rooster, a depiction of Peter's denunciation of Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. There are pictures depicting all kinds of biblical parts. The story of Moses with his tablets, Abraham with Issac, and many parts of the new testament are depicted. The later frescoes are more in the Greek style, more like the icons. But again they are pictures telling a story. Every dome of the ceiling, every wall, every support has a picture on it, some in better condition than others. Many show the cross of St John, he clearly made a visit to Cappadocia.
Many of these early Christians had to worship in secret, as Christianity was not tolerated, but this was a thinking community. St George was born in Cappadocia although the Greeks claim him also. Probably Cappadocia was a Greek outpost at that time, part of the eastern Roman empire. One of the early churches is that of St Basil, and there are human remains of early Christians there, possibly a child. Baptismals were huge, babies were baptized by immersion, but always as babies. However converts were also baptized., in these churches by total immersion. Of course the Byzantine Era from the time of Constantine changed these churches considerably.
The locals call the structures fairy chimneys, largely because of the way time has washed away the volcanic ash. This whole area was an inland sea that got filled in by eruptions of the three surrounding volcanoes. There have been successive volcanic explosions. A bit like what we see on the central plateau. Often a piece of basalt sits atop of the spires, hence calling them fairy chimneys, and it has all formed naturally.
Cappadocia's main industry was agriculture (even though volcanic ash makes poor soil) and pottery, up to the 1980's when tourism really took off. It is well known for it's balloon rides, but it's fascinating history makes it well worth a look. However there are many steps and volcanic ash, and ash dust.
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