Cappadocia Hotels

Cappadocia is a region in central Turkey, largely in Nevºehir Province. The name was traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history and is still widely used as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders characterized by fairy chimneys (image below) and a unique historical and cultural heritage. The term, as used in tourism, roughly corresponds to present-day Nevºehir Province of Turkey. Cappadocia s limits are debated. In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians are supposed to have occupied the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine (Black Sea). Cappadocia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of Mount Taurus, to the east by the Euphrates, to the north by Pontus, and to the west by Lake Tuz, in Central Anatolia. But Strabo, the only ancient author to provide a major account of the area, greatly exaggerated its dimensions. It is now believed that 400 km (250 mi) east-west by 200 km (120 mi) north-south is a more realistic appraisal of Cappadocia's area. Cappadocia was known as Hatti in the late Bronze Age, and was the homeland of the Hittite power centred at Hattusa. After the fall of the Hittite Empire, with the decline of the Syro-Cappadocians (Mushki) after their defeat by the Lydian king Croesus in the 6th century, Cappadocia was left in the power of a sort of feudal aristocracy, dwelling in strong castles and keeping the peasants in a servile condition, which later made them apt for foreign slavery. It was included in the third Persian satrapy in the division established by Darius, but long continued to be governed by rulers of its own, none apparently supreme over the whole country and all more or less tributary to the Great King.