About 25 million years ago, volcanoes of Erciyes, Hasandag and Melendiz mountains erupted and covered Cappadocia with a layer of tuff. Over millennia, this tuff layer gradually wore off and produced formations that has inspired cave art in this region. Kizilirmak river and its streams, cut deep into the tuff plateau and give a different, red colour to the soil. Cappadocia in Persian means the Land of Beautiful Horse. It is in the region that pottery began in the Neolithic age and around 2000 BC, the Assyrians of Mesopotamia brought the skills of terracotta pot making to their trading partners, the Hittites and it has continued till date. The most well- known terracotta pottery producing town of Cappadocia is Avanos where volcanic soil and silt carried by Kizilirmak and good quality clay deposits make it the most appropriate place for ceramic production. Read more