Zelve's Fairy Chimneys, Cappadocia
After our visit to Goreme and its Open Air Museum, we went to visit its neighbouring area called Zelve. The drive to Zelve was pretty near, I think it lasted around 10 to 15 minutes.
Zelve is located quite tucked away out of sight off the main road. It was a living community until the year 1952 where ordinary locals went about their daily life, grinding bulgur (re: cereal) at the mill, pressing grapes in the saraphane (re: winery), rearing pigeons for their manure for fertilizer and bedding their animals down for the night in the cave-cut stables.
Zelve is also famous for tourism because of its soldier's rock or fairy chimneys. There is an open air museum (albeit smaller than Goreme) in Zelve.
Folklore says that long time ago a prophet was on the run while soldiers were chasing him. He was trapped in Zelve canyon and started to cry to God asking Him for help. He asked God to either turn the prophet into a bird so he could fly away or turn the soldiers into rock (now that's a very specific request in time of needs..lol). God, in His grace and mercy, decided to turn the soldiers into rocks and today, visitors can see these amazing soldier-fairy chimneys when they visit Zelve.
