Kappadókiai barlangházak / Cappadocian Cave Dwellings

Kappadokia Törökország közepén foglal helyet. Nevsehirtől délre számos „föld alatti város” található, amelyek egymás fölött, több szinten helyezkednek el. A sziklaformák anyaga törmelékes, puha, világos színű vulkáni tufa.

Ezek az üregrendszerek hajdanán ezer és ezer családot tudtak befogadni, amikor a helybelieknek az ellenséges hódítók elől el kellett rejtőzniük. Ókori és középkori közösségek lakásokat, templomokat, egész településeket vájtak ki kőzetből anélkül, hogy felszíni építményt emeltek volna.

Az erózió völgyeket vágott a felszínbe, de egy-egy keményebb zárókőzet alatt cukorsüveg vagy torony alakú képződmények keletkeztek. Ezekből úgy lehetett helyiségeket kibányászni, hogy a szobáknak akár ablakai, sőt, oszlopos tornácai is lehettek, mintha bástyákat formáztak volna.  Egy lakórész belmagassága kb. 2,3 m. Téglalap alakú terek a jellemzők. Egy lakáshoz akár 4-5 szoba is tartozhatott.

Források:
Kappadókia
Kappadókiai barangolások
Videó a barlanglakásokat felfedező útról
Kappadókiai sziklatemplomok
Kappadókia csodái
Kappadókia sziklacsodái
Kalandozások Kappadókiában

Keserű Balázs



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Enciklopédia:


2 l\/2 h     Cappadocia (Turkey c)
Cappadocia, in the middle of Anatolia, 200 km {124 mi) southeast of Ankara and west of Kayseri, is renowned for Its volcanic landscape and handmade tufa cave dwellings The first cave setdements date back to the early days of Christianity and since that time there has been an uninterrupted cave-dwelling tradition lasting up until the present day The widespread tufa landscape was formed by the ashes of three, at present inactive, volcanoes, around the Lrciyas Dagi mountain Centuries of erosion shaped bizarre valley formations and tufa cones The ground is fertile and suitable for vine growing and gardening
From the start and following the Byzantine period, the Christian setders tried to hide from the invading Arabic and Persian troops Underground towns, designed for 10 000 to 20000 people, were dug into the tufa stone in several levels Even churches were carved underground, designed with static-
ally functionless vaults and columns, many of them decorated with frescos and only reachable through hidden entrances
The cave dwellings were shaped to accommodate the people's habitual needs Most of the rooms were designed for protection against militant groups who might threaten Many rooms were interconnected, sometimes through chimneys or long closable tunnels Every cave-flat had at least two exits, thus providing an escape route under all conditions
Over the centuries, Turks with a rural Islamic tradition settled down and moved into newly built caves next to the established Christians These people, who originallv came from central Asia, had internalized different space conceptions, leading them to carve new caves according to their specific needs They built their rooms as separate units, not connected with each other as they were in the ancient Christian dwellings Later, the local people also agglutinated arch-houses to their cave dwellings, built with flat roofs and made of local tufa stone blocks This tvpe of house was very common in the area and was later also used and developed by the Christian setders In the early-i920s the last Christians left Cappadocia and moved to Greece
In the older sections of Cappadocian villages, most of the dwellings are a combination of cave and house Sometimes people move to the warmer cave rooms in wintertime, and go back to themoreopenand lighter attached arch-houses during the summer months Fhe cave rooms also play a major role in storage Grapes, fruit and bread will stav fresh for months if properly stored Therefore people have conceived special rooms for special purposes dark and cool rooms for storing warm and light rooms for living, half-open halls, kitchens, stables, pigeon-coops, bee-houses and separate cloakrooms I he whole domestic complex IS surrounded by a high courtyard wall Here the women's private outdoor working area is protected from public view In terms of ecology, the cave dwellings aie very functional homes to live in They are easily built with simple tools and at minimum cost The climate inside is consistent throughout the year, so that only a minimum of thermic energy is needed Fur thermore there is very little need for maintenance of the cave dwellings - there are no leaking roofs, rotten beams or the like
Since the beginning of the 1970s the government has reset-ded some of the cave dwellers to new 'European-style' houses in the new parts of the villages, alleging that the old cave dwellings were unsafe and outdated Prestige and 'modern thinking' have also influenced these people in another respect Many believe a cave dwelling is too cheap to live in and so more and more troglodytes have moved out of their old homes to try a modern life in expensively built new houses But many inhabitants with a lifetime's experience in cave dwelling have quickly learned that these modern houses are very impractical, not least in the fact that they are hot and humid in summer and cold and very difficult to heat in winter Many people have therefore reacted by returning to tradition and have built local-type tufa houses around their modern red-roofed, concrete edifices A few of the villagers have even moved back to the practical cave dwellings
A new trend has arisen from the growing tourist industry in the second half of the 1980s many troglodytes have renovated their caves and have made them into traditional-style boarding