cave dwelling

I’ve been trying to hold off on posting the Turkey photos until I feel like I’ve adequately captured the feeling of being there, but I’ve realized that’s an impossible task so I’m just plunging in. When we last left off, we were leaving Ankara and had stopped at the salt lake on our way to the Anatolia region of Turkey. This is where we stayed in Cappadocia: Esbelli Evi Cave Hotel.

The hotel was located just up the hill from the downtown area of Urgup and we were easily able to walk down the hill to go out to eat, get ice cream or shop.

The unique thing about the Anatolia region of Turkey is a type of rock that is filled with caves that were formed by a volcanic eruption a long time ago. And the stone in this area is soft and perfect for carving out cave dwellings, which is how people lived here for years. Recently, some enterprising people have taken abandoned cave dwellings, renovated them and turned them into boutique hotels. 

Once we stepped through the entrance of the hotel it was as if we had entered a secret garden.

On the grounds are stone steps that go up and down and pathways that wind around to all the different rooms.

Looking down on the front door to our Family Suite. There is a garden with fruit trees growing on the roof.

Inside the front door was the entryway, two bathrooms, and the stairs leading down to the main cave rooms. 

At the bottom of the stairs — the passage to the left leads to the living room (to the right are the bedrooms).

The living room was cozy and comfortable, beautifully rustic and plenty big for all of us. The back door led to our huge private garden. 

(like the makeshift baby gate at the bottom of the stairs?)

Flowers, fruit trees, climbing vines, plenty of space — I could have called this place home permanently.

And the view of the hillside from our backyard — plenty of caves to explore right outside our back gate!

The rest of the house was just as beautiful and I must have been too busy relaxing and enjoying it to get very good pictures. This was our bedroom. I loved that all the rooms had windows that looked out on the back yard. 

The kid’s bedroom was the most fun. There was a bed carved into the wall and the closets were created from smaller hollowed out areas. Perfect hiding and play spaces. 

 

Nighty-night! Don’t let the cave animals bite!