Tradition of living in rock-carved houses in Nevşehir

NEVŞEHİR

Some of the residents of the Nar district, established centuries ago among the fairy chimneys in the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir, are living in houses formed by rock-carved rooms. 

According to 2017 data from the Turkish Statistics Institute, 4,261 people are living in the district, which has been home to various civilizations including the Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and the Ottoman. 

Some of the houses established among the fairy chimneys many years ago and transmitted from father to son are connected to the rock-carved rooms. 

The rock-carved rooms that stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter represent a tradition that has been maintained for centuries. 

A resident of this type of houses, Hüseyin Kurnaz, 40, said the district, which has a magnificent beauty with a unique structure, was one of the oldest settlements in the region. 

Kurnaz said they enjoyed living in Nar district, adding that it was peaceful to live among fairy chimneys that draw thousands of hundreds of tourists every year. 

“The Nar district has a very long history; it is one of the oldest settlements in the region along with Nevşehir. In these houses, we live a life in the natural atmosphere. It gives us a different pleasure to live in these houses. We have a warm winter environment in the rocks and in the summer, we live in the coolness of the rocks,” he said. 

“When we visit our friends living in the apartment, we cannot find this peace. These places have unique beauty. Tourists from all over the world come to our region to see the rock formations, but we live in these rocks in a natural and peaceful environment,” said Kurnaz. 

Another resident of the rock-carved houses in the district, Ayhan Yaman, 51, said his own children grew up in a house, where his grandfather grew up too. “This feeling is priceless to me,” he said. 

Yaman said the rock houses were transmitted from one generation to another thanks to their durability. 

“Rock-carved houses are natural, even their walls exhale. My grandfathers lived here. I was born here and grew up here too. Such places are a natural wonder, they are more robust than normal houses. We live in a house completely made of rock from ceiling to ground. We enjoy life here,” he said. 

After living in the district for long years, Tunar Çalışkan, 38, said he had to move to an apartment because of his job but he came to Nar every weekend to visit his friends and enjoyed spending time there. 

“Our district is close to the city center but when you think it is a natural environment, it is far from the city. This is a town that has hosted many civilizations and we live together with the traces of those civilizations. I come to Nar and visit its streets with excitement and admiration,” he said.