Cappadocia's most famous attraction, for good reason, is the Göreme Open Air Museum, a complex of medieval painted cave churches carved out by Orthodox monks. In the 4th century,Cappadocia became known as the "Land of the Three Saints" because of three remarkable theologians who are still collectively known as The Cappadocians: St. Basil the Great, his brother St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Gregory of Nazianzus contributed a great deal to Christian doctrine in general and Eastern Orthodox thought in particular. St. Basil was instrumental in developing Christian monasticism, of which these cave churches in his homeland are a product. The monastic complex at Göremewas carved out and decorated between 900 and 1200.
The Christians who took shelter in the Goreme valley because of the Arab pressures gave it the name of Goreme which means "you cannot see here". Later on, this name was Korama and gradually it has come up un til today in the form of Goreme.
There are over 10 cave churches in the Göreme Open Air Museum. Along with rectories, dwellings, and a religious school, they form a large monastic complex carved out of a roughly ring-shaped rock formation in the otherworldy landscape of Cappadocia. Entrance to the site is on the north side.
Most of the churches are fully painted inside with beautiful and historically important Byzantine murals dating from 900-1200 AD. Most are in remarkably good condition, although nearly all the eyes of the painted figures have been gouged out by superstitious locals afraid of the Evil Eye. One notable exception is the Dark Church, whose walls were long protected by pigeon droppings! One of the recurring themes in these and other Cappadocian churches is St. George slaying the dragon. According to local tradition, the event occurred on the summit of MountErciyes.
Painting Techniques
Two types of painting technique were used in the churches. The first is without an undercoat of plaster. Painting was applied directly the bare rock using the roots of vegetables for color. This type of painting can be seen more in the early Byzantine churches and chapels. One can find decorations such as the Maltese Cross and geometrical and floral designs. In the later periods, the original paintings were covered with plaster and repainted with scenes from the bible. The best examples for this type of painting are the Buckle Church, Chapel of St. Basil, Apple Churchand the Chapel of St. Barbara located in the Goreme Open Air Museum.
The second technique was to paint onto an undercoat of plaster. Painting was either on the wet plaster, the fresco technique or dried plaster. There is only one example of this technique, which is the Tatlarin Church. In order to give the painting a brighter surface, after the painting was completed a kind of glue obtained from plants was applied. The themes on the walls are generally taken from the life of Jesus, the Bible and the Torah. It is also possible to see saints from the Christian world and the important people of Cappadocia. We usually see the immortal souls represented in the dome, mortals on the walls.
Just outside the museum exit on the right is the Buckle Church, the largest of the cave churches at Göreme. It can be entered with the same ticket as the main complex and should not be missed. The frescoes are also the finest in Göreme, with the richest colors and the most detail. It dates from the 10th and 11th centuries and was restored in the 1960s.
St. Barbara Chapel
This cruciform chapel with three apses is mostly decorated with simple figures and symbols in red paint on white plaster, making a sharp contrast with the colorful figures of most Göreme frescoes. They may have been painted shortly after the 8th-century iconoclastic controversy. A giant locust symbolizing evil on one wall opposes two crosses on the other, while a rooster representing the devil is battled with bricks representing the Church. Other strange creatures and shapes are more difficult to interpret. The figurative frescoes include Christ Pantocrator, St. George and the Dragon, St Theodore, and St Barbara.
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