Historical Houses In Cappadocia Serve Tourism

Monday, April 30, 2007

   

 Four-hundred historical houses in the Uchisar district of one of Turkey’s most important tourism centers, Cappadocia, have been turned into restaurants, boutique hotels and pensions.Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Uchisar Mayor Mustafa Zuhal said the houses from the late Ottoman period and early republic period have been an attraction for foreign tourists visiting the region since the 1990s.

  “The historical houses of the Cappadocia region have been restored with the permission of the Nevşehir Committee for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Structures and opened as hotels, restaurants and pensions. The French mostly manage such venues. Some German, Italian and the U.S. tourists buy these venues and enjoy their holidays. They add value to the region.”He said despite boutique hotels being more expensive than 4-5 star hotels, the natural environment has a positive impact on tourists.

  Zühal said more than 100 historical structures were being turned into boutique hotels, adding that interest in historical houses enlivened tourism and that prices for those house range between 100,000-150,000 euros.

TurkishDailyNews

Cappadocia To Be Explored By International Artists

Monday, March 26, 2007

   International artists will gather next month in the Cappadocia region for art. The International Uchisar Cappadocia Art Camp, which is marking its fourth year, will unite 20 artists from all over the world in Nevsehir’s Uchisar district. The works featuring the natural beauties of Cappadocia and created by the artists during their stay in the region will be displayed in the historic Uchisar Castle as part of the activities.

  Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Uchisar Mayor Mustafa Zühal said besides Turkish artists, around 20 painters including French, German, Dutch, Italian, Columbian and Argentinean artists are expected to participate in the event. 

  “The camp is quite important for international promotion of our region and its districts. Cappadocia will be conveyed on canvases through the eyes of the artists. We will also be able to further promote our region to international visitors via an exhibition comprising artists’ works scheduled at the end of the camp on April 23,” he said, adding, “We made the art camp a traditional one. We want to continue it in a more comprehensive way since we find a chance to show and promote Cappadocia from different perspectives. We will thus give every sort of support to the artists participating in the event.” The camp will run through from April 2 to April 23.

TurkishDailyNews

German Cappadocia Lover Opens Exhibition

Friday, March 23, 2007

   A German living in Cappadocia will promote Cappadocia in Istanbul. Almut Wegner, 45, a painter and art director will open an exhibition featuring the natural beauties of Cappadocia on March 27, reported the Doğan News Agency.

   Cappadocia lover Wegner first visited Cappadocia in 1991 as a tourist and was so impressed by the marvelous landscape in the region she then decided to settle in the region. Turning one of her rooms into a workshop, the painter has been living in Uchisar with her six children since then. Wegner will display works featuring the natural beauty of the region.The exhibition can be viewed from March 27 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Nakkas Art Gallery in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district. 

TurkishDailyNews
 

Cappadocia Pigeon Houses

   Near Uchisar is a valley that has become quite popular with hikers. It is known by many names (Valley of the Pigeon Lofts, Dovecote Valley, Pigeon Valley) but they all refer to the thousands of pigeon houses that have been carved into the soft tufa since ancient times. Although they can be found throughout Cappadocia, they are especially plentiful in this valley which must have one of the greatest collections of pigeon lofts in the world. They were carved wherever space allowed including abandoned caves and the walls of collapsed churches. They lack the architectural interest of the doocots of Scotland or the elaborate Persian pigeon towers but their sheer numbers are astonishing. In Cappadocia, pigeons have long been a source of food and fertilizer. The advent of chemical fertilizers has reduced the use of pigeon fertilizer. However, some farmers still maintain their lofts because they insist that the reputation of Cappadocian fruits as the sweetest and most succulent in Turkey is entirely due to the pigeons’ droppings.