Natural Wonders of The World: Goreme National Park and Mount Ararat, Turkey

Goreme National Park has one of the strangest landscapes on earth. Over millions of years, volcanoes in the area covered the land with thick layers of soft tuff stone, which were then covered with layers of lava that hardened and sealed the top.

Natural Wonders of The World: Goreme National Park and Mount Ararat, Turkey

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In the heart of Cappadocia, Goreme National Park has one of the strangest landscapes on earth. Over millions of years, volcanoes in the area covered the land with thick layers of soft tuff stone, which were then covered with layers of lava that hardened and sealed the top. Eventually, water broke through and the soft rock below became subject to weathering, and wind, snow and rain have carved it into conical pillars, towers and needles of varying colours and heights of up 40-50m (130-165ft). The volcanic plain once covered some 10,000sq km (3,850 sq mi) of landscape and the park now protects the central 95 sq km (37 sq mi). The soft rock is also easily carved by humans and over the centuries many of the pillars, the so-called fairy chimneys, have been turned into homes or churches, and the latter are famous for their Byzantine murals.

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Away from the villages, the landscape is best explored on foot or by bicycle. A popular walk is the 12-km (7.5-mi) circuitous path to Uchisar through the Uzundere Valley. The valleys are dominated by the volcanoes that produced the landscape, such as Erciyas Dag and Hasan Dag.

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Nearest Town:

Uchisar (3km, 2mi)

Don’t Miss:

A balloon ride over the area.

You Should Know:

Although the volcanoes are now extinct, earth tremors can occur.

Mount Ararat

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Lying in the far east of Anatolia, Mount Ararat (Agri Dagi) is worth taking the trouble to visit, both for its beauty and its importance in the Bible, as it is the site where the Book of Genesis says that Noah’s Ark came to rest after the great flood. The higher of this valcano’s two peaks, Buyuk Agri, is the highest in Turkey, at 5,137m (16,854FT). Mount Ararat is not extinct, merely dormant: the last eruption was in 1840.

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In 2004 the area around and including Mount Ararat was designated as the Kackar Mountains National Park, but access to the mountain is by permit only for foreign visitors because this is a politically sensitive area. Permits must be applied for at least two months before a proposed visit through a registered tourist agency that operates treks. However, reaching the summit of the mountain makes all the hassle worth while. The views from the snow-covered peak-across to Iran and Armenia and west across the plain-are spectacular.

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