And to think that I saw it in Cappadocia Mar 2, 2020

And to think that I saw it in Cappadocia

The fantastical "fairy chimneys" found in central Turkey"s historical Cappadocia region were formed by a collision of the natural and the man-made—and they form a scene that seems straight out of a Dr. Seuss illustration. The landforms were created when volcanoes deposited mounds of soft, porous rock called tuff, which was later covered with hard basalt. In the 10th century (though possibly starting up to 5,000 years ago) humans excavated the tuff to create caves and catacombs that could fit thousands of dwellers. Through not only the astonishing ruins but the many "cave hotels" hewn into rock in the city of Göreme, the memory of those ingenious city planners lives on.

© Ivan Kmit/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Mar 2, 2018Satellite image of sand and seaweed in the Bahamas
Mar 2, 2019You won’t see this on Mulberry Street
Mar 2, 2021Fall for Chile
Mar 2, 2022Mount Rainier National Park
Mar 2, 2023Negratín Reservoir, Granada, Spain
Mar 2, 2024Modica, Sicily, Italy
Mar 2, 2025Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains National Park, Australia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Feb 6, 2025Waitangi Day in New Zealand
Jun 3, 2018Travel Sunday: Liverpool
Feb 5, 2025Scottish Blackface sheep, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Apr 27, 2024National Go Birding Day
Jul 28, 2019Road-trip worthy attraction in the heartland
Feb 23, 2025Mount Fuji Day
Apr 23, 2018National Park Week: Haleakalā National Park, Hawaii
May 14, 2018Celebrating Bike to Work Week, May 14-18
Jun 25, 2021Birds and bees, and why they re so important
Jan 20, 2018Yellow-eyed penguins, Moeraki, New Zealand
Jun 22, 2020Pollinators: not to be sneezed at
Feb 6, 2023Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Aug 12, 2023World Elephant Day
Jul 2, 2021A meerkat stands alone
Jun 4, 2025The beach at Cala Luna, Sardinia, Italy
May 30, 2024Everglades National Park marks 90 years
Jun 26, 2021Spectacular views below!
Jan 13, 2022Tasiilaq, Greenland
Jul 1, 2020Canada s $20 view
Sep 2, 2021A cliffside harbor in Sardinia
Feb 2, 2019Groundhog Day arrives—beyond a shadow of a doubt
Nov 11, 2024Veterans Day
Jul 8, 2018Travel Sunday: Flamenco in Granada, Andalusia, Spain
Jan 24, 2021These patterns tell a story
Dec 3, 2020A Carpathian Christmas celebration
Feb 10, 2018Bonifacio on the island of Corsica, France
Aug 4, 2021A special day for a special cat
Jul 12, 2025Thomsons gazelles, Maasai Mara, Kenya
Sep 16, 2024Wallabies at sunrise, Australia
May 12, 2022International Nurses Day