Cappadocia - What's in a Name?

Cappadocia Turkey

Strabon, the Greek geographer, at the start of the 1st millennium A.D. described Cappadocia as, 'a very large area surrounded by the Taurus Mountains in the south, by Aksaray in the west, Malatya in the east and all the way up to the Black Sea coast in the north'. Today it is a smaller region comprising a handful of city provinces, yet it is still as glorious to behold as it has ever been.

Many travellers are drawn to holidays in Cappadocia because of the breath-taking rock formations. Sculpted by floods and the constant whipping of the winds, these strange sights have taken the form of chimneys, cones, columns and, bizarrely, mushrooms. The result is something like a cross between Australia's 'Red Centre' and the surface of the Moon. Perhaps it is this eccentric oddity that makes it so well suited to travel by horseback. The traveller can gaze upon the rocks as they twist towards the sky, disturbed by nothing but the gentle rhythm of the horse beneath them.

But where does the name Cappadocia come from?

Well, the clue was in the horses as many claim the name comes from the Persian 'Katpatuka', meaning 'land of fine horses'. Sources say that the animals were bred here from as early as the mid-second millennium B.C., and throughout the classical period. Cappadocia was renowned for its stables, and paying tribute with horses became a tradition in the area. This obviously spoke well of the Cappadocian people, as Gregorius of Naziansos claimed that 'In Cappadocia not only are fine horses bred, but a race of fine people'.

When on holiday in Cappadocia one can expect to hear more of this ancient land, and to learn that as with all things historical the truth is never so simple. It is argued that the word 'Katpatuka' is clearly not a native Persian word. Add to this the fact that before the Persians ruled the region it was in the hands of the Assyrians and the Hittites, and afterwards the Macedonians, Romans and Byzantines, and the truth becomes harder to pinpoint. Most astonishingly of all for English visitors, it is suggested that St.George the dragon-slayer finds his origins in Cappadocia legend, proof enough of how abundant the region is in lore. When bearing these things in mind it is easy to see how origins and sureness of meaning can be obscured.

Yet what is certain is that the horses remain and are as fine as ever. Akhal Teke, Arabian and Turkish mix-breeds are common to the area and are the perfect means by which to explore the history and people of this region on any holiday in Cappadocia.

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