Cappadocia - Happydocia Goreme, was called Maccan in antiquity and is one of the oldest sites in the Cappadocia region. The oldest known source where the name of this city is mentioned, is the book titled "The Doing of St. Hieron" of the 7th century. Macan was not a city naturally protected and hidden from the eye, therefore it suffered a lot from the Arab raides and lost the majority of its population. The churches of Maçan were rebuilt after the Arab invasion were over. It is generally accepted that the city was situated by the side of a river in its earliest times, and there are indeed two pillared mausoleums left from thes early stage as proof of this early settlement. There are five churches in the vilage of Goreme and its surroundings. The biggest of these is the Durmus Kadir Church which is thought to have been built in either the 6th or the 7th century. Its pillars and the preacher's desk are well preserved. The other churches of Göreme have been built in the 10th and the 11th centuries after the Arab raids. The youngest church here is the Yusuf Koc Church which was built in the 11th century when Goreme had an episcopate. Two of the churches of Göreme, the Bezirhani Church and the Orta Mahalli Church are withen the city, and the farthest church which can be reached in 30 minutes on foot, is the Church of Karabulut dating back to the 11th century.
The most attractive settlement of the region is the vilage of Göreme which is an unsurpassed example of the harmony of man and nature. People still live in the rock houses or use them as storerooms today, displaying an immense reverence for this volcanic earth and history. The village of Göreme does not only have rock houses, but also rock restaurants and rock hotels which all visitors find amazing. The natural boundaries of the city are drawn by the high rocks surrounding it and the fairy chimneys within; it's a place that offers unbelievable natural treasures.
