I forwarded the recent discussion on Cappadocia to my parishioner David
Barchard, who has published extensively on the subject. I now forward his
reply to the list.
Bill.
>
>
>The medieval-religion list, of which I am a member, has taken an interest
>in
>Cappadocia. If you have anything to contribute to the discussion, send an
>e-mail to me and I will forward it to the list.
>
>Bill.
>
>
>Here are some comments for your medieval-religion list. Use them or not as
>you wish!
>
>>>I was just in those caves in Cappadocial a yr ago; you did know that the
>>>caves with altars & frescoes are different from the 'undergrd city"
>>>nearby? We were told that those caves were occupied till l922 in some
>>>cases, but not by monks in recent times. Pardon Tillinghast
>
>Troglodytism is a recurrent feature of Byzantine Anatolia, for example
>found in Phrygia and many other places as well as the Matiane/Garsaura
>distict of Cappadocia. The main point of continuity with the Roman world is
>that funerary rock chapels seem to have grown out of Roman tombs, which are
>also found in the region.
>
>In my view there is no very clear distinction between the so-called
>‘underground cities' and smaller sets of excavated chambers, tunnels,
>chapels etc. Tunnelling is endemic in the region. A clear distinction can
>be seen between the high Byzantine excavations (tenth and eleventh century)
>which are regular and classical in spirit and the higgledy-piggledy
>post-Byzantine caves, including chapels.
>
>The question of how many of these chapels should be regarded as monastic is
>also controversial. Clearly there were monasteries but many of the chapels
>were either hermitages or perhaps linked to family use. The Goreme
>‘crescent' itself is an exception since there are unmistakable monastic
>features there in the form of refectory tables. The same is also true at
>Geyikli Kilise in Soganli valley where a very fine 10-11th century monastic
>refectory was uncovered two years ago. The monastic credentials of the
>finest church in the region, Eski Gumus near Nigde, have been challenged by
>David Winfield but in my view wrongly. Eski Gumus is clearly a monastery,
>belonging to the type identified by Lyn Rodley as ‘court-yard monasteries'.
>
>
>>The big difference between the monastic settlements and the underground
>>cities is that the former are above ground (though, in places such as the
>>Ilhara Vadisi, in a ravine rather than in the hills) and the latter are
>>decidedly below ground, subterranean in the strict sense.
>
>I am afraid I disgree with this. Apart from anything else, the rocks of the
>Ihlara valley are much harder to quarry and sculpt than those of the
>underground cities about fifty miles east...Kaymakli, Derinkuyu, Ozkonak
>etc. Also the rate of disintegration is much faster at Ihlara and we have
>only a limited idea of what the area was like in Byzantine times. But the
>rock there would not have been suitable for excavating an extensive
>settlement.
>
>There is also the question of dating. The ‘underground cities' were in use
>as refugees all the way through until the 1820's when the people hid in
>them to escape from Mehmet Ali's invasion from Egypt. I do not regard them
>as being products of the Byzantine Epopee in the same way that the best
>known churches and monasteries are.
>>
>>There are plenty of places in Kappadokya where caves are still inhabited.
>>In fact National Public Radio over here carried a story just last week of
>>how the popularity of cave dwelling is on the rise. The bourgeoisie are
>>moving in, renovating them, supplementing or adding electricity and
>running
>>water. In many places caves of various kinds continue to be inhabited,
>>after centuries, by local villagers and farmers.
>
>During the 1950's many of the best troglodytic houses were evacuated on
>grounds of danger. Some certainly have to be abandoned, but a French
>architect, Jacques Azimou, has restored many in Uchisar. (Where
>incidentally a small Italian lay Catholic community exists.) By and large
>local people unfortunately want to live in modern concrete apartment blocks
>
> These are all
>>above-ground caves, however; the below-ground "underground cities" were
>>something of a different matter, and were largely abandoned at the same
>>time as (most) of the monastic settlements, around the eleventh or twelfth
>>century.
>
>I don't know of any evidence for this dating. There is plenty of evidence
>to show that they were used much later. E.g. the one at Mazi is still
>partly in use because it is an integral part of the village. The same is
>true of the one at Acigol.
>
>
> Even some of the monastic settlements, though, were active, or at
>>least their churches were still in use, by groups such as Syriac
>Christians
>>and Armenians into the nineteenth century.
>
>There is nothing to link Syriacs with this region. The Christian population
>here, especially where troglodytes are concerned was overwhelmingly ethnic
>Greek, though perhaps speaking Karamanli Turkish. There was some Armenian
>presence, quite strong around Kayseri (e.g. Develi/Gabadonia right down to
>the present day) and at Soganli Valley where there is a fairly modern
>ruined Armenian church.
>
>The medieval evidence in the frescoes is mostly circumstantial. There are
>no Armenian inscriptions or graffiti or even personal names that I know of,
>but some writers believe they have identified themes from Armenian
>apocrypha and similar texts.
>
> The underground cities date, in
>>same cases, to the third or fourth century before Christ (though I don't
>>have the literature handy to say exactly when). Our tour guide insisted
>>they went back to the Hittites, though our party (which included several
>OT
>>scholars) was deeply skeptical of this, and we concluded informally that
>he
>>was confusing the underground cities with sites such as the Uçhisar
>natural
>>citadel. But I have not researched this question.
>
>The archaeological evidence on ‘underground cities' is virtually non
>existent. No coin finds, shards, or similar evidence, let alone pollens
>etc. They may well be continuous with very early periods of settlement.
>Hittite provenance is not impossible since you get Late Hittite
>inscriptions here from around 700 BC (e.g. north and south west of Nevsehir
>on rocks) long after the fall of the Empire around 1170 BC. But again,
>there is no evidence for this that I know of.
>>
>>As an aside, an interesting by-feature of the underground cities is that
>>they nurture species of mold and lichens on their walls uniquely adapted
>to
>>the setting, and as yet unresearched. The failed biologist in me finds
>>such things fascinating: the mold and the frescoes survive, the citizens
>>and the monks pass.
>>
>Interesting. Unfortunately the frescoes are not quite as durable as the
>lichens!
>
>Some possible further reading:
>
>Spero Kostof : Caves of God (Oxford University Press and Berkeley)
>(semi-popular account)
>Lyn Rodley: Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia (CUP)
>Nicole Thierry Les Nouvelles Eglises Rupestre de Cappadoce
>Catherine Jolivet Levy ‘Les Eglise Byzantines de Cappadoce'
>Friedrich Hild and Marcel Restle: Tabula Imperii Byzantini Vol 2
>‘Kappadokien' (Vienna Academy of Sciences)
>
>
>There is fierce disagreement over dating, especially between the Austrians
>and the French but Friedrich Hild seems to be leaning more towards the
>French views. Madame Thierry is the doyenne of Cappadocian studies.
>
>
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