Cappadocia is situated in the heart of central Anatolia just 300 km from Turkey's capital Ankara. This arid steppe was formed by long-since eroded volcanic craters surrounded by later volcanic mountains which spewed out their fires of lava and ash over thousands of years…

Climatic extremes, wind, rain and a time-lapse of a million years have formed the fairy-like landscape we see today, shaping and sculpting the many tinted layers into so many pinnacled valleys and gorges.

Early man must have found the tuff easy to work with. Over the centuries the soft rock was fashioned into underground hide-outs and habitations cut deep into the valley sides, whose furnishings were again of tuff.