This region is both breathtaking and mysterious. Covering 116 sq miles, it is unlike any other place in the world. Known for its underground cities from 100-600 AD, and for the distinctive formations created more than 2 milenia ago.
In the soft stone of the volcanic material there are believed to be about 36 underground cities and complexes. Only a few have been excavated. Carved out rooms and living areas, with as many as 20,000 early Christians living in the caves. My tour visited the deepest, an 8-level complex extending down to 197 ft. Spaces including for worshipping, for domestic animals, for wine and food, and more, all instituted to be safe from the Roman soldiers of the times.
Other extraordinary formations are the result of erosion and weather, wearing down the volcanic stone into stands called "fairy chimneys" because it was believed that fairies lived underground and that these were their ventilation chimneys.
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