These homes rock!

Although I could certainly do without the snow, I love the way that these homes in Goreme were carved right into the rock, many of them still topped by conical hills.  This too is in the Cappadocia area of Turkey.  This ancient town made use of the natural terrain, yet blended in with it as far as possible, retaining much of the rugged beauty. 

Fairy Chimneys of Turkey

There are several types of Turkish Fairy Chimneys (also known as Hoodoos or earth pyramids), the tall thin spires of rock that tower above a badland or arid floor. The columns are soft sedimentary rock capped by a piece of harder, less easily-eroded stone. The Cappadocia region pillars (above) are sculpted from ancient volcanic ash. 

Smaller fairy chimneys (below) are also found in the Devrent Valley, AKA Imaginary/Imagination Valley or Pink Valley.

The photos above from Imagination Valley are from Free Travel Photography (c)

Mushroom capped Fairy Chimneys can also be seen at Pasabag, or Monk'sValley (below) (Photo also from Free Travel Photography (c) http://www.free-travel-photos.org/)

Some, like the Chapel for St. Simeon (below) are carved out for dwellings in the tradition of the region. The carved homes and underground cities will be my next post.