Culture & Heritage

With permission from the Preservation Council of Cultural and Natural Assets, Fairy Chimney houses in one of Turkey’s most popular tourist spots, Cappadocia, are being restored to serve as luxury boutique hotels


Abandoned Fairy Chimney houses in Cappadocia, one of Turkey’s most important tourism centers, are being renovated and transformed into luxurious boutique hotels, says Anatolia News Agency.


The houses have been restored with the permission of the Preservation Council of Cultural and Natural Assets and offer tourists the opportunity to enjoy a holiday in a traditional environment. The cost of accommodation ranges from $100 to $3,000.


‘’We ease all transactions for investors in order to develop tourism in the region,’’ said Mustafa Zühal, mayor of Uçhisar, a district in the Anatolian city of Nevºehir where Cappadocia is located.


Some 37 facilities now accommodate 1,200 persons following recent investments in the district, he added.


Cappadocia tourism differs from summer resort  tourism,  said Zühal. He added that hotels in the region compete against each other in quality.


“One two-star hotel, eight boutique hotels and 27 guest houses accommodate foreign and local tourists. Natural beauty and cultural value are generally highlighted to promote tourism in the Cappadocia region. That is why this region is different from the places of sea tourism. The places that turned from Fairy Chimney houses into accommodation facilities are significant in this sense. They also compete in terms of service quality. This is why prices may reach $3,000. It is caused by quality competition,” Zühal said.


He said tourists from Japan, France and some European countries showed interest in boutique hotels in the region.


The annual occupancy rate of accommodation was 78 percent in the region, he said, adding that this rate was higher than the rate in many summer resorts by the sea.


Formation of Fairy Chimney 

A Fairy Chimney is conical rock formation, typically found in the Cappadocia region of Turkey. Fairy Chimneys got their name from the belief by early observers that these structures could not be naturally occurring, and must have been created by some supernatural force. They theorized that since fairies lived underground, they needed chimneys to prevent suffocation from fire fumes. Thus, they must have built chimneys connected to the world above, chimneys that would look just like the weird stone structures sticking up above the ground.

A London Appeal Court ruled on Friday in Iran’s favour on the case of 18 historical artifacts smuggled to Britain from Jiroft historical site in southeastern Iran.


Nine months ago, an initial court had issued a verdict for putting the items of the ancient artifacts in auction.


The verdict had aroused the concern of Iran’s cultural heritage experts who decided to take action against the verdict through making a complaint to the rehearing court.


The verdict has also violated UNESCO’s 1970 convention indicating prevention of the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural properties, which UK has also ratified.


The whole story started when cultural heritage authorities found out that Jifort’s stolen relics were being auctioned by Barakat Gallery in London, they immediately took action and asked the London Court to stop the selling of these invaluable relics. The court ordered the gallery to stop selling them and asked it to come to an agreement with Iran about them.


However, although the gallery took these artifacts out of its auction, it refused to give them back to Iran despite Iran’s proposal to give 150,000 British pounds as compensation.


The historical items included two jugs, five cups, six vases, one bowl, one dish and three weights which are being kept in London’s Barakat Gallery. The gallery has collected a large number of Jiroft’s historical relics.


The ancient artifacts had been plundered from Halil Rud historical site near the city of Jiroft in the Iranian province of Kerman. The smugglers then illegally crossed the borders of the country with the valuable objects, considered part of the Persian heritage, and sold them abroad.


Halil Rud historical site was one of the first places where civilization and urbanization were established. A large number of stone, clay, and architectural remains from the third millennium BC were discovered during archaeological excavations in the site.

Around 30 countries are likely to participate in the First Islamic World Photo Biennial scheduled to be held in Tehran, MNA reported.


According to Abbas Mirhashemi, secretary of the Saba Art and Cultural Institute, the festival aims to portray the characteristics of Islamic architecture, to study spiritual and cultural identities in Islamic communities, to strengthen artistic experiences between photographic artists and to help introduce photographers active in the world of Islam.


Photos submitted must have been taken in the last few years and focus on issues such as daily life, traditions, social phenomena and family culture, he said, adding that non-Muslim photographers can also participate in the event.


The manager of the international section of the biennial Akram Puraki announced that so far 97 photographers from 27 countries including Italy, Australia, Turkey, Singapore, Taiwan, Iraq and Lebanon have submitted works with the total number of entries standing at 820, and it is estimated that the number of participants will increase.


She continued that a total of 270 Iranian photographers have so far submitted their works to the secretariat.


Interested applicants should submit their entries by December 31.