What houses look like, carved in the frozen lava of ancient volcanoes in Cappadocia

Once upon a time, the country of beautiful horses, located in what is now central Turkey, was seething with lava erupting from volcanoes.

The gorges were filled with volcanic tuff. After the solidification of the rock, a high-mountain plateau, now called Cappadocia, was formed over the entire area of ​​the eruption. Over the course of millions of years, wind, rain and sudden changes in temperature did their job: volcanic rocks collapsed, forming bizarre figures of a cyclopean scale.

The shortage of wood led to the fact that people who came to these lands began to build cave houses in tuff pillars. Only the doors of the dwelling were made of wood. Each family occupied one or more hills formed by weathering. The houses were made multi-storey with balconies and terraces. Some of the premises were used as utility or storage facilities.

Fleeing from persecution, the first Christians settled here, and therefore in Cappadocia you can visit the churches built inside the volcanic rock.

Multi-room apartments, carved out of soft tuff and connected by street tunnels into whole multi-storey underground cities, are still used by local residents as warehouses or housing.

Hospitable Turks organize hotels in some of the rooms, which offer a magnificent view of the valley, colored by hundreds of balloons at dawn.

No one in this area is surprised even by the police station, cut down in a high, wind-blown "tower".

Modern residential buildings in Cappadocia look quite familiar: geometrically correct rooms built from ordinary building materials. But often such buildings are a continuation of the cave apartment and are connected to it into a single area.

Due to its porous structure, tuff has a low thermal conductivity. Therefore, the caves are cool during the heat of summer and warm even during the night frosts.