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After the eruption of Mt. Erciyes about 2000 years ago, the lava formed
soft rocks in the Cappadocia Region. People of Goreme, at the heart of
the Cappadocia Region, realized that these
soft rocks could be easily carved out to form houses, churches, monasteries.
Goreme became a monastic center between 300-1200 AD. First period
settlement in Goreme reaches to the Roman period from Christianity.
The Goreme Open Air Museum is the most visited site of the monastic
communities in Cappadocia and is one of the most famous sites in central
Turkey. It is a complex comprising more than 30 rock-carved churches
and chapels containing some superb frescoes, dating from the 9th to the
11th centuries.
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