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Name : Fairy Chimneys
Location : Cappadocia , Central Anatolia , Turkey
Turkey’s Love Valley in Cappadocia is peppered with thousands of “fairy chimneys” carved out of volcanic rock.
Coordinates:38.660576078243686 , 34.81971335767199
Why it ’s incredible : Both the place and its name are straight out of a nance tale
Turkey ’s " fairy chimneys " are lifelike yet surreal - looking spires up to 130 feet ( 40 meters ) tall that were cut up out of balmy volcanic tilt by the component over millions of years . Thousands of these spindly chimneys are pepper across the Love Valley in Göreme National Park , forming a rocky wonderland that human civilization have convey refuge in for virtually 4,000 years .
Cappadocia is a tourist destination famous for offering hot air balloon rides over the fairy chimneys.
Volcanic natural process that begin roughly 14 million year ago repose the founding for the erose landscape painting we see today . A serial publication of bam showered what is now Central Anatolia with ash tree , which solidify into thick layer of tufa — a type of light , porous rock . Subsequent explosions then coat the tuff with lava that hardened into a tough , basalt impudence . The chimneys , technically called " hoodoos , " formed over the eons as tip and body of water went to work out on the rocks , wearing down the tuff and leaving behind only pillars . The basalt eroded more slowly , which is why many of the lamp chimney are cap with mushroom-shaped cloud - like basalt circus tent to this day .
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Nature did the heavy lifting , but humans also helped to shape the fairy chimney . The landscape is honeycombed with cave and tunnel dating as far back as the Hittites , who inhabited the sphere between 1800 and 1200 B.C. , according toNational Geographic . Central Anatolia after straddled the bounds of rival empires — include the Greek , Persian , Byzantine and Roman empires — and frequent hullabaloo drive the neighborhood ’s residents to dig out concealing place among and beneath the spires . Christians fly persecution inancient Romeeven carved churches and monastery out of the soft gem , expanding cave and tunnel networks into sprawling underground cities .
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The compactness of living quarters hidden among the fairy chimney is so vast it is " one of the world ’s most striking and largest cave - dwelling building complex , " according toUNESCO . The agency autograph Göreme National Park and the rock sites at Cappadocia on its list of World Heritage Sites in 1985 .
The fairy chimneyshave also been dubbed"the world ’s most unusual high-pitched - cost increase neck of the woods " by National Geographic .
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