How Did the Fairy Chimneys, The Symbols of Nevşehir, Get Their Name?

Although what comes to mind is wine, pots, potatoes and hot air balloons when you say Nevşehir, the main symbols is definitely the fairy chimneys. This structure which has existed since the Paleolithic age in which humans started to come to life was created by cooled down lava eroded by the wind. As it is easy to carve it, humans began to use them as houses and prayer halls.

Although it is the truth behind the fairy chimneys, there is a legend that will take you to a dreamland. For this amazing structure, the local people have story, which I would like to share with you. Here is the story about this lovely city in which you can smell the authentic air to dream about another world: “Once upon a time, monstrous giants used to live on the lands between the heavens and earth. These giants threw noisy fire balls onto the people they got upset at from the summits of the mountains. People used to climb these summits to pray that the giants would not hurt them. One day, the ruler of the land of the fairies had to visit this land. The ruler got touched when he saw the people suffering here and decided to help them. He called upon his fairies and said “My fairies, humans are having hard times! If we put out the fire of the mountains and repel the giants to underground, they will take a deep breath thanks to us”. Upon the instructions of the ruler, the fairies climber the snowy summits. They tried to put out the fire with snow in their hands. After struggling for days, they finally managed to do so. The giants who took their power from fire got afraid and escaped to underground. People celebrated this victory and had feasts for days. After that, a friendship was secured between fairies and humans. While people lived in caves, fairies lived in small chambers in pointed rocks. People used to chew grapes and make wines, fairies would join them. Until there was a conflict between them! After a while, they had an argument. People wanted the fairies to go away, but the fairies wanted to maintain their friendship. They didn’t want to upset those people, but they didn’t want to leave either! They finally made a decision. All of them suddenly turned into pigeons and left their chambers. Since then, pigeons have been living in these Fairy Chimneys!