1594 TURKEY (Central Anatolia) - Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia (UNESCO WHS)

Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia
Fairy chimneys in Devrent valley

Located on the central Anatolia plateau, in Cappadocia, within a volcanic landscape sculpted by erosion to form a succession of mountain ridges, valleys and pinnacles known as "fairy chimneys" or hoodoos, Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia cover the region between the cities of Nevşehir, Ürgüp and Avanos, the sites of Karain, Karlık, Yeşilöz, Soğanlı and the subterranean cities of Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu.

The area is bounded on the south and east by ranges of extinct volcanoes with Erciyes Dağ (3916 m) at one end and Hasan Dağ (3253 m) at the other. The density of its rock-hewn cells, churches, troglodyte villages and subterranean cities within the rock formations make it one of the world's most striking and largest cave-dwelling complexes. In a spectacular landscape, the site provide a globally renowned and accessible display of hoodoo landforms and other erosional features, which are of great beauty, and which interact with the cultural elements of the landscape.

Although the area has been extensively used and modified by man for centuries the resulting landscape is one of harmony. In the ruin like landscape of the Cappadocia plateau where natural erosion has sculpted the tuff into shapes which are eerily reminiscent of towers, spires, domes and pyramids, man has added to the workmanship of the elements by digging cells, churches and veritable subterranean cities which together make up one of the world's largest cave dwelling complexes.

About the stamp
The stamp is part of a series dedicated to tourism.

References
Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia - UNESCO official website

Sender: Eric Clemente
Sent from ??? (Central Anatolia / Turkey), on 07.04.2015