Day 13: Urgup





            Today we all woke up with slight sadness that we would be saying goodbye to our second home, Turkey. Turkey has truly welcomed us with love from her bosom. However, even in our sadness we woke up excited to be transported to another ancient history of Turkey. 


Our first visit was to an underground city/museum known as Kaymaklı. We were also joined by Kapadokya Unversity students from their English Language Department. The museum first opened in 1964 and only ten percent of it is cleaned up for site visit. Kaymaklı may have been built by the Phryginas in the 8th-7th century B.C. It was used as settlement for Christians to hide out from wars and storage system during time of peace. As we bent our backs and squatted through each tunnel, we all felt transported back to history. Some of us questioned what it felt like to have a normal life while living underground during a war. We saw their living room, kitchen, storage space and wine room. At the end of the underground tour, some of us felt like we were part of the history.


      After our adventure at the underground city, we took a bus ride to Sobessos formally known as Suwase during ancient times. Archaeologists speculate the church was built during a very dry season which is why the inhabitants named it after another town. It was discovered 15 years ago during a treasure hunt.  During the discovery, they found 5th and 6th century coins which mean the inhabitants come from the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine era. There were mosaic tiles on the ground, too.


The last site visited today was a monastery called Basmelek Mikal Church. The church dates back to the 13th century. It was also used for making Lavan's bread. The top of the church has paintings from the New Testament like the communion. The lower part of the church has paintings of the Old Testament, such as when Jacob wrestled an angel. As we walked around the cave, we found their schools, baptism area and kitchen. We ended our time there taking lovely pictures outside the caves and admiring their beautiful site.  


Since this is the last blog written by a student, we would like to take a moment to thank Mama E, Papa D and our favorite Uncle G for making this trip a dream come true. We appreciate your time and commitment to make this trip happen. We’ve all enjoyed our time bonding with one another, and we love you three so much! 


Chisimdi Iheme 

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