Anatolian Houses, Goerme

The Anatolian Houses—cave houses, actually—stretch the imagination beyond what seems possible.  “Am I really experiencing this magical, fairy landscape?” That is your first impression upon crossing the threshold.  We arrived at sunset as the evening lights illumined our abode, one that surely exceeds Disney’s wildest imaginations.  Here, a swimming pool, shaped like the Aegean Sea, stretching from the inner court to somewhere deeper, more mystical, inside.  There, a flight of stairs, leading to a stone wine cask, available to guests 24 hours, free of charge.  Inside, a warm fire, and, oh, the delight to the eyes.  Am I entering a cave world of fairy creatures inspired by Tolkien, but better than mere words could tell?  Solid rock walls, blasted, carved, chiseled, formed—how did they do it?  Shaped into walls and intricately-carved coffered ceilings, with surprises everywhere.  Backlit niches filled with museum treasures of ancient amphoras, clay pots, bowls, flasks, cups, decanters, vases, oil lamps, and more.  The lighting is indirect, soothing.  The drapery swung over entrances, falling from the ceiling, silken, beaded, tasseled.  A divan beckons.  Turkish coffee?  What is your pleasure?  “May we get you coffee, tea, any beverage of your choice?”  Our hosts welcomed us with hospitality that Cappadocia is both famous and proud to offer.

Tucked up inside of the fairy chimneys that dot this landscape, our room was up a flight of glass steps that confirmed we were living in a dream.  “We are stepping on…air?”  How does imagination play upon imagination?  How do you take the unbelievable and then exceed it?  Oh yes, you must see the photos to begin to understand that this could be true.  But will photos alone convey the experience?  You know they cannot.  “You had to be there to believe it.”  Ever used that expression?  It fits well in this case.

My six-foot-three-inch frame bent low to enter the hobbit-sized doorway, but inside was a king’s palace.  A royal cave house, lit with niches filled with artistic treasures from long ago. Small sections along the walls carved to exhibit archeological relics from historical eras of eons past.  A regal arch, supported by two majestic rock-hewn pillars formed the grand entrance to our palatial bedroom suite.  Turkish carpets covered solid wood floors, inlaid into the solid block foundation.  A wrought-iron headboard fit perfectly into the carved arch behind our king-size bed.  A cozy fireplace tempted us to warm up later amidst the snowy Cappadocian evening.  A custom-built closet also fit perfectly inside the rock wall niche that had been created for it.  How did they know how to shape the walls, ceilings, niches, and ornamentation so artistically, so functionally, so delicately?  Nothing here seems real, seems usual, seems ordinary in any way.  It may take some time to adjust, to drink it all in, to come to grips with it, in a way where I may understand and appreciate without taking anything for granted.  This is a place to be savored, to be enjoyed, to feel the utter delight of craftsmanship that says, “Here, I did this for you, that you may enjoy.”  One simply does not receive that sort of welcome too often, perhaps anywhere.  There is nothing to compare this to, because there is nothing quite like it.  We try to embrace it all.  It is too much—overwhelming.  Perhaps in the morning we will come to our senses.  We go to bed as if in a trance, hoping to wake up to find that, yes, it really is true.  We were not making this up.  It is real.  And it still defies belief, defies description, defies all that you have ever known or experienced before.

Anatolian Houses
Gaferli mah. 50180
Goreme-Nevsehir
TURKEY
www.anatolianhouses.com
Phone : + 90 384 2712463 (pbx)
Fax : + 90 384 2712229
e-mail : info@anatolianhouses.com