Cappadocia, the land of beautiful horses (Kappadokia), is the region that was formed by the eroding of the soft layers formed by the lava and ashes erupted by Erciyes, Hasandağı and Güllüdağ 60 million years ago by rain and wind for millions of years. Human settlement dates back to the Paleolithic period. The lands where the Hittites lived became one of the most important centers of Christianity in the later periods. The houses and churches carved into the rocks made the area a huge shelter for Christians who fled from the pressure of the Roman Empire.
Geographer Strabo also mentions the borders of Cappadocia in his book "Geographika" (Geography-Anatolia XII. XIII, XIV) written in the period of the Roman Emperor Agustus. According to this tariff, Cappadocia extended to the Taurus Mountains in the south, Aksaray in the west, Malatya in the east and the Black Sea in the north. Today, the region called Cappadocia is concentrated in an area of 250 km² of geographical formations and spread to the provinces of Nevşehir, Kırşehir, Niğde, Aksaray and Kayseri. The most visited regions are; Uçhisar, Göreme, Avanos, Ürgüp, Derinkuyu, Kaymaklı and Ihlara.
Cappadocia region is a place where nature and history are integrated. While geographical events constituted the Fairy Chimneys, in the historical process, people carved houses, churches and monasteries into these fairy chimneys and decorated them with frescoes and carried the traces of thousands of years of civilization. The written history of Cappadocia, where human settlements date back to the Paleolithic period, begins with the Hittites. Cappadocia, which has hosted trade colonies throughout history and built a commercial and social bridge between countries, is one of the important crossroads of the Silk Road.
With the collapse of the Hittite Empire in the 12th century BC, a dark period begins in the region. During this period, the late Hittite Kings, which had the effects of Assyria and Phrygia, dominated the region. These Kingdoms lasted until the Persian occupation in the 6th century BC.