Another interesting day

 In this vast and open land, it's not often that one meets up with another person but here we were and there was a huge group hiking in the vicinity. We would all end up in this fascinating rock-cut church. They spoke French. It is good to know that people from all over the world is here.

 Though cut into the rock, it had man made construction elements like this brick work archway that is falling apart.

This reminds me of some of the free standing Byzantine churches near Cappadocia in an area called 'thousand and one churches', an area where the famed British explorer, Gertrude Bell did a lot of excavation and documented in her book of the same name. Towards the end, she became so distraught about war and the state of the antiquities in the Mesopotamia region that she took her own life. This reminds me of her pictures she took of the churches that were crumbling in front of her even as she surveyed them. There were frescoes inside this church, badly damaged ones, with faces and eyes scratched out, maybe during the iconoclast period. The surprising thing is the iconoclast period was perpetrated by Emperor Leo who, himself was from Cappadocia. He so wanted to please the Orthodox church officials in Constantinople that he persecuted his own people, the people in Cappadocia, from whence he came.

The white church

Bernd calls this 'the white church' because it is white and unadorned. It's magnificence is in its architectural details. What were the carvers/architects thinking? That the tufa rock is 'play do'? It is true that any error in carving cannot be corrected and there is slight imperfections in this rock-cut church. Again, remember, these are not free standing buildings that they pretend to be. This is another rock-cut church. It has cathedral dimensions in height, width and glory and really very beautiful. I just realised that I didn't take too many pictures because I was still recovering from heatstroke and was not fully well and whatever Bernd was saying about just went over my head. We did see a local guide bringing two visitors in, they took a glance, took a picture of themselves and then off they went.

A church with fanstastic frescoes

Again we find a church with different frescoes, the subject matter is exquisite because it depicts Ezekiel's dream. Ezekiel Chapter one verses 5 to 25. .... 4 living creatures, a man, a calf, a lion and an eagle...... in the center, the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord....'

The main area is always given to Christ, Pantocrator while the apostles would surround him and be closest to Him.

In the same passage in Ezekiel, it spoke of 'living creatures.... having wings, moving... wheels (notice the wheel of fire next to the creature with wings...

The 'roundels could depict Old Testament prophets and local benefactors.

Ezekiel's vision is a strange one that I can't even understand but here is a heroic attempt to depict it in art. Isn't that amazing. The message given by the Lord during this vision was a terrible one warning the people of the Lord of their apostasy. When one sits and ponder on the messages shown in the various frescoes, one comes away with a different appreciation of Cappadocia and its legacy. I thank God that these people were on the earth and has left us their example. Maybe we'll meet in heaven one day and then understand fully....

Today we have a new governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger is suppose to have posted his own youtube video of his exit as governor of California. I couldn't find it but I found an old one of him having lunch with Sylvester Stallone in a Beverly Hills restaurant. I guess now that he is no longer governor of California, he'll have more time to lunch with his old movie pals and probably go back to making more movies. Good bye, Arnold. (Don't be back!)

A friend

 Clear across the other canyon is another chai stand and a friend of Bernd. As we approached, Bernd shouted out to his friend, the owner of the chai stand and he is the keeper of a fantastic rock cut church with fantastic frescoes. He heard us and he waved.

 There were other visitors there before us. It's just great, to have friends all over the place. Bernd is almost a local after having lived here for 8-9 years.

We would stay and have another tea before visiting the church right next to the chai stand. It was hot. I liked Turkish tea and that was what I had on such a hot day. Before I even gulped it down, Bernd said, 'are we ready to see the church?' We're always ready. I jumped up, not wanting to waste any time, I want to fit as much in as possible. I ran up the steps to the church. I wasn't in the church for very long when I realised I can't seem to cool off, my body temperature seems to keep rising and I was going to black out. I become deathly silent and Sophie realised I was in trouble. She ran down the steps, got some cold water for me. I was thinking, 'oh my God, she shouldn't run, she could get into the same trouble and then what are we going to do.' We're in the middle of nowhere, we can't call 911 to get us out of there. But after drinking the cold water, I felt better and could continue the rest of our day. Thank God, it was a little scary.

Uzumlu kilise

 Bunches of grapes.

 This looked like the crucifixon of a fully clothed Jesus Christ, unusual for this area. A fully clothed Jesus on the cross is a Syrian idea.

Both figurative frescoes and iconoclastic patterns in one church is unusual. The yellow color is also not common. Sometimes figurative frescoes are added after the iconoclastic period. A lot of churches are carved at one time with their frescoes painted at a later date.

Happy New Year 2011

The first day of 2011 is almost over. I must be the only one who worked today. Anyway my Christmas guests came and went and we had a wonderful time together. I was sick the past week with a stomach ailment but I've recovered completely. I need to google to see what people do to celebrate the burning of their mortgage because I soon will be doing that. Have a great 2011. Do you have any travel plans for the new year?

Martha Stewart was here

Here we are, in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Goreme, Cappadocia. Chai stands like this dot the area. One would stop, drink tea or have something to eat, chat with other visitors, visit the church nearby. We stopped here and next to us was a big French group. The owner, as with all the others, was very friendly, suddenly asked if anyone was from the USA and if anyone of us knew who Martha Stewart was? He had to ask about the USA because we didn't look American. We said, we are Americans and knew who Martha Stewart was. Martha Stewart made the same stop a week before us, took videos of his place and him and supposedly the program was to air on the Hallmark channel a month later. I came back, went on the Hallmark channel website, couldn't find the program with him in it but I saw Martha Stewart taking a hot air balloon ride, she rode horses through Rose valley and went to see the pottery shops in Avanos. She also visited Istanbul, they let her into the Haghia Sophia and the Topkapi palace on the days they were closed. She was given a special tour of both places. This is the iconic Martha Stewart, love her or hate her, she's indestructible.
Well, it would have been a bigger story if we had been there the same time she was and our paths crossed.