LOVE IN A RUCKSACK #8-What’s a Fairy Chimney Anyway?
Dec 31st, 2008 by bls88
When Jan and I first arrived in Cappadocia-the area in central Anatolia, Turkey named for the beautiful horses that once ran wild across its landscape, we began to hear the beautiful, yet phallic, rock formations that dotted the plains referred to as “fairy chimneys,” a description we couldn’t ascribe to any of the obvious features of the statues. On our first day we found a nice young Turkish man who managed a souvenir shop with his father and asked him why they were called such to which he replied “Why fairy chimneys? I don’t know. Because they look like fairy chimneys!” “Oh, okay, thanks…”
The next day on a tour with a very informative guide named Mensure, we learned that the formations, which evolved after the thin layers of basalt (left by several widespread volcanic eruptions) cracked, exposing the softer layer of tuff which eventually was shaped by erosion and wind into what we see today. The cap of the tower of rock that we see is the remaining basalt; once that cap of basalt cracks, the tuff will be easily eroded and the fairy chimney will disappear.
During the Byzantine Era, early Christians, including St. Paul, took refuge in the malleable landscape of Cappadocia, creating houses and churches by taking a hammer and pick to the tuff. To alert fellow Christians to the existence of the safe house, stone dwellers would light a candle in the top window of the chimney. Other residents of Cappadocia, however, unaware of this signal, took fright and believed the stone formations to be inhabited by fairies-thus the name, fairy chimney.
This once putty-like rock, tuff, shapes the Martian landscape of Cappadocia. Houses, monasterie
s, churches and underground cities built as far back as the Hittites, and then into the Byzantine Era were actively utilized by Cappadocians up into the 20th century. Even now, the rock shelters are used as hotels, hostels and for housing during the hot summer months.
This is the first in a series of posts about the amazing nation of Turkey.
Great job. Thanks your.