土耳其岩洞酒店

Cave Dwelling Hotels Go Underground in Turkey's Cappadocia Region The Cappadocia region in eastern Turkey has a difficult challenge--to survive and flourish,

it must merge ancient history with modern luxuries and persuade tourists to equate caves with comfort. It's a fascinating corner of the world. The striking valleys that neighbor the hotel, best viewed early in the morning from a hot air balloon.

These bizarre creations are the result of volcanic ash mixing with the elements over millions of years. The soft rock, ideal for carving out caves. Local families have lived here for generations.

Many sold out to trade up, getting homes with running water and electricity. The basic caves have been completely renovated, their original structures kept by a team of architects, who took four years to make the transformation.

The rooms, the caves are dating back to the third and fourth centuries. And we have also a 19th century Greek mansion, and we use that mansion as a guest house with entertainment rooms, lounge,

and that's the first place we check our guests in, and then back to the rooms. Linzie, now, this is one of the suite rooms that we have. It's quite a big suite room. This used to be a stable.

It starts with the big marble bathroom, with the Hilton sinks, and you come down the stairs, starting from the study and to the fireplace, which was built later on. Just days ago, the last family of cave dwellers living near the hotel moved on. Some of their belongings are still here.

They said they'd had enough of living without modern comforts. The hotel is just beyond this wall. It could take this property and convert it into another luxury room, but it says it has no plans for immediate expansion.

Instead it wants to concentrate on enhancing19 the intimacy and charm that already exists. It's not just homes that have been hollowed out of the rock. In Cappadocia, more than a thousand churches exist in the caves, in caves. The caves are all man-made caves, all carved. There is no natural cave in Cappadocia.

The churches carved by Christians who first settled the area, some of them escaping religious persecution by the Roman Empire. Erosion has exposed the monasteries, but also threatens to destroy them over time.