There are only a few people who find the way to Tatların, and the entrance to the cave church with frescoes from the 13th century is locked by an iron door. This explains why the old frescoes survived the stupid name carving vandalism.

There are only a few people who find the way to Tatların, and the entrance to the cave church with frescoes from the 13th century is locked by an iron door. This explains why the old frescoes survived the stupid name carving vandalism.

Cappadocia is an eroded landscape of volcanic tuffstone. Wind and weather created rocks in the funniest shapes. The tuff stores a lot of water and makes the valleys very fertile. For thousands of years people were digging caves into the soft tuffs...

Cappadocia is an eroded landscape of volcanic tuffstone. Wind and weather created rocks in the funniest shapes. The tuff stores a lot of water and makes the valleys very fertile. For thousands of years people were digging caves into the soft tuffs...

Archangelos monastery near Ürgüp in Cappadocia, with  Byzantine frescoes. Although they are covered from soot there is a lot visible. The monastery was in use until the 1st world war.

Inside a small cave church with wallpaintings in the local Cappadocian style, about 11th century. Without protection it is only a matter of time until the 1000 years old frescoes will be completely destroyed.

The Acık Saray named region, which means "open palace", covers an area of 1km² and includes 8 cave complexes. Most of them are decorated with an elaborate facade. It is dated to the 11th or 13th century. Probably it was the home of craftsmen and t...

The Acık Saray named region, which means "open palace", covers an area of 1km² and includes 8 cave complexes. Most of them are decorated with an elaborate facade. It is dated to the 11th or 13th century. Probably it was the home of craftsmen and t...

The Ihlara Valley is a deep canyon, cut into the rock by the small river Melendiz Suyu. Inside the valley is the small river and a lot of greenery. The walls of the valley contain many cave churches, chapels and monastries. Some of them with colou...

This is a complex of several cave churches inside a big rock. Unfortunately the front is broken down. But it is easy to imagine, that the churches inside the rock were hardly visible from the outside. In ancient times it was common just to have a ...

Entrance room of a small cave church inside the Cappadocian tuff rocks. The walls show simple red paintings, which indicates an age of more than thousand years. The holes in the ground are graves, probably of monks.

The Ihlara Valley is a deep canyon, cut into the rock by the small river Melendiz Suyu. Inside the valley is the small river and a lot of greenery. The walls of the valley contain many cave churches, chapels and monastries. Some of them with colou...

The front of the Timios Stavros cave church was built of stones. Inside are wallpaintings, which are very much damaged. Very interesting are the many Greek handwritten texts. They mention years like 1859 or 1878. At that time the church was probab...

This is one of many hidden cave churches in the valleys of Cappadocia. It's in an remote area with very little tourism, far away from big roads. That's why the paintings show very few damages.

The byzantine cave church of Tagar had been cut into the rock in the shape of a cross. The wallpaintings are dated to the 11th century. More panoramas at: http://www.derPanoramafotograf.com