Oriva Editorial

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Unexpected Places: A landscape shaped into a home

Sep 27, 2026

Cappadocia looks almost unreal, but its landscape has been shaped by both nature and people over thousands of years. Wind and water carved the region’s soft volcanic rock into the distinctive formations known as fairy chimneys. People then carved homes, churches and entire settlements into those same formations, creating a landscape where architecture and geology become difficult to separate. Some of the rock-cut churches date back to the Byzantine period, while underground cities such as Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu were developed deep beneath the surface. Today, the Göreme area is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site — not simply for its scenery, but for the remarkable relationship between the landscape and the people who made it their home.