And to think that I saw it in Cappadocia Mar 2, 2020

And to think that I saw it in Cappadocia

The fantastical "fairy chimneys" found in central Turkey"s historical Cappadocia region were formed by a collision of the natural and the man-made—and they form a scene that seems straight out of a Dr. Seuss illustration. The landforms were created when volcanoes deposited mounds of soft, porous rock called tuff, which was later covered with hard basalt. In the 10th century (though possibly starting up to 5,000 years ago) humans excavated the tuff to create caves and catacombs that could fit thousands of dwellers. Through not only the astonishing ruins but the many "cave hotels" hewn into rock in the city of Göreme, the memory of those ingenious city planners lives on.

© Ivan Kmit/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Mar 2, 2018Satellite image of sand and seaweed in the Bahamas
Mar 2, 2019You won’t see this on Mulberry Street
Mar 2, 2021Fall for Chile
Mar 2, 2022Mount Rainier National Park
Mar 2, 2023Negratín Reservoir, Granada, Spain
Mar 2, 2024Modica, Sicily, Italy
Mar 2, 2025Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains National Park, Australia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Oct 21, 2020Does this chameleon look a little insecure?
May 29, 2022Hyalite Creek at Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana
Oct 16, 2024National Fossil Day
Nov 7, 2024Vancouver Coastal Sea wolves, Great Bear Rainforest, Canada
May 9, 2021Happy Mother s Day!
Aug 5, 2018Friendship Day in the City of Brotherly Love
Aug 17, 2025International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend
Sep 27, 2020Take me to the river
Dec 16, 2020Beethoven s 250th
Jan 28, 2023The Bahamas as seen from the ISS
Mar 21, 2022World Poetry Day
Apr 7, 2022Málaga, Spain
May 21, 2024International Tea Day
Jun 4, 2021Islands that turned the tide
Oct 23, 2019Polar bear capital of the world
Oct 27, 2019A festival of lights in India
Aug 30, 2025International Whale Shark Day
Jul 23, 2025Vatican City with St. Peters Basilica
Feb 11, 2021It’s showtime for a precious crop
Nov 30, 2025Christmas market in Leipzig, Germany
Jun 26, 2020Beautiful baobabs
Sep 10, 2020Hidden beauty in Thailand
Oct 7, 2019From the mind of Frank Gehry
Oct 3, 2022World Architecture Day
Nov 14, 2023Russell lupines, Lake Tekapo, New Zealand
Jan 29, 2019A winter’s holiday ends
Oct 25, 2018A silent witness to history
Mar 5, 2021Reflecting on one of the world s strangest rivers
Aug 24, 2019Get the bear facts
Dec 14, 2022National Audubon Society s Christmas Bird Count