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FAIRY CHIMNEYS
So why does Cappadocia, a place you can’t Ancient people discovered the soft rock of
find on a map, attract travelers from around the chimneys was easily carved with ham-
the world? In short - an out-of-this-world mers and chisels. The cave homes and
landscape of natural rock formations or fairy churches they created stayed cool in the
chimneys, as the locals call them, and its summer and warm in the winter, enabling
fascinating centuries-long history of cave them to survive in this harsh environment.
dwellings and underground cities. Fairy chimney dwellings could be dangerous,
Fairy chimneys, also known as hoodoos, collapsing and costing lives, and the govern-
are tall, thin rock formations up to 140 feet ment has discouraged homes in them since
high, shaped by the erosion of soft volcanic the 1960s. Still, a few locals cling to the old
rock over millions of years. No two are alike ways and shelter in their carved out homes.
in these forests of stone. We found one who opened his home for
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