Turkey Trip: Churches, Frescoes, and Mosaics

People have been living in caves carved into the volcanic tuff rock of Cappadocia near Göreme for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.  Folks have carved homes, storehouses, aviaries, churches, and more into the soft rock.  We were fortunate to stay in a cave hotel (warm, quiet, but a little too quiet sometimes) and we saw cave churches both in the Göreme Open Air Museum and on our hike through the Rose Canyon.

Carvings near uppermost chapel at the Open Air Museum

Church carved into the rock, Göreme

Fresco inside church at the Open Air Museum

Turns out one is not supposed to take pictures inside the churches - even though I wasn't using flash photography - so that's the only interior picture we have.  It's not disappointing, though - that fresco is about 800 years old.

Carrying on with the church and fresco theme, here are pictures from our visit to the Chora Church in Istanbul:

Mosaic with the parables of the loaves and fishes, and turning water into wine

Mosaic on the interior of one of the domes in the narthex

Mosaic of Saint Peter

Fresco at the end of the interior narthex 

What the brickwork looks like without a mosaic or fresco