Cappadocia

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A diagram of Asia Minor, today's Türkiye, showing its ancient regions.
The ancient regions of Asia Minor, now called Türkiye.

Cappadocia is a region in central Anatolia, today’s Turkey. It consists of the modern Turkish provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas, and Niğde.

After an ancient volcanic eruption, the area was deeply covered by soft volcanic rock called “tuft.” Churches, houses, and even entire cities were dug into the ground, with the underground cities consisting of many layers, including schools and stables. This enabled the inhabitants to “disappear” underground as hostile armies or other threats passed by above.

Cappadocia has a religious heritage of being a center of early Christian learning, evidenced by hundreds of underground “cave churches” and monasteries

Today, Cappadocia is a popular tourist destination because of its other-worldly landscape, including “fairy chimneys,” formed because of wind and water erosion over the millenia.

Biblical References

  • Acts 2:9
  • 1 Peter 1:1
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