SYMBOLS OF YAHYALI: CARPETS AND APPLE

Now let’s come to the most important part: carpets and apple… These two items are the symbol of Yahyalı. When it comes to Yahyalı, both apple and carpet come to mind. Because Yahyalı is famous for mostly these two items. Yahyalı carpet is one of the most famous hand-made rug made in our country. Our carpets are known every part of Turkey and especially in Europe. In the past our grandmothers were weaving carpets and there was nobody who doesn’t do this job in their house. And they made money from this but this tradition has almost disappeared nowadays.  Loads of natural material such as mud, grape leaf, nutshell, buckthorn  have been used to color the rope of these carpets. And also it is not possible to find these colors in other handmade rug. I am the witness of these beautiful colors.  Moreover when I was a child I would ask my grandmother to give me some of these ropes because of their colors. Because they had attract me a lot.

Yahyalı carpets have the feature of rising in value and not fading as they are being old and everywhere you can encounter these wonderful carpets especially in big cities such as İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Antalya.

YAHYALI APPLE

              ALADAGLAR

I want to go on with  our national park to my speech: It is a valley whose altitude is 3500-3750m. Hundreds of lake has been consist of as a result of melting snow. 7 of these lakes never go down and one of these lakes’ depth is 80m. Because of the fact that there are 7 lakes which don’t dry up, it is called “seven lakes”. Moreover Kapuzbaşı waterfalls feeds these lakes.  Because of its physical geography it is one of the most important trekking zone. It presents a unique landscape in July with its tens of peaks, with alp plants, with its wildlife etc.  In the first  week of July the number of its lake reaches 80.  As the snows melt and lessen the the flowers of the second spring  blossom in fall. Then the snow melts and “Aladağlar” becomes “Karadağlar”.  In conclusion, this wonderful part of the nature which is placed in the south of Yahyalı, reflects a very  powerful potantiel value from the point of transhumance, rock climbing, trekking, paragliding and tourism economics.

In summer the people of Yahyalı go there and stay for a while but they never get bored. I know their feeling because almost  all the people of Yahyalı share the same feelings and my father is one of them;) Even if he doesn’t go and stay in Aladağlar every night he sees there in his dream…

SULTANSAZLIĞI BIRD PARADISE

Today I want to tell about Sultan Sazlığı which is among the special bird paradises and grows in importance day by day. It is stated among  Erciyes Mountain, aladağ natural park and Cappadocia natural park and therefore it becomes integrated with their specific features. Consequently Sultansazlığı reaches the more valuable place.  In this region there are 600.000 flamingo and 1.250.000 kind of bird. In fact  there were… because the reality is unfortunately  not as it seems.

I had visited this bird paradise  when I was in high school but the scene was awful! I was expecting that the morass  would be as green as grass. I had thought very wrongly. Unfortunately there was a place as dry as a bone. Moreover there were no bird! Yes any kind of bird… Instead, there were imitation of some kind of birds. It was all disappointment. Who was the guilty? Nobody knows… or everybody had caused them to disappear? Anyway even if the guilty is found they won’t come again and our bird paradise will not be twittery as before.

FOODS 2 (the rest)

BORANI
Ingredients: One bunch sorrel (stale), a little pea, bean and split. 

Preparation: Sorrel is  cleaned and boiled . Then it is drained, cut into pieces and it  is strained. Little peas,  beans and split are mixed and  boiled . It is take out of the stove and served.

BULAMAÇ
Ingredients: Corn flour, oil and salt.
Preparation: Water is put to the saucepan.  Cornmeal is added into the boiling water slowly  and stirred continuously. In the meantime,  salt is added , it is cooked until stiffening and served with the oil on it.

BULGUR AŞI
Ingredients: Wheat, oil, onion, salt and tomato paste.
Preparation: While rendering oil; fine-chopped onion  is roasted until it turns pink. Tomato paste, wheat and the cracked are added and it is roasted a little more. Sufficient water is put, and then salt is added.  After being boiled for half an hour  it is served  on which mint is sprinkled.

CİLBİR

Ingredients: Plenty of onions, a little meat, butter, tomato paste and salt.

Preparation: Oil is rendered in a large skillet,  fine-chopped onion  is roasted until it turns pink and then tomato paste is added, diced meats are added  and it is roasted.  Enough water is put, salt is added, after cooking for half an hour  it is served.

ÇETE OVALAMASI
Ingredients: crumbled pastry, two onions, a few cucumber,  çökelek, parsley ,red pepper and salt.
Preparation: Crumbled pieces of bread is watered and  onion is chopped in it.    Çökelek (kind of cheese) parsley,  chopped cucumber, red pepper are mixed together and served  on a plate.  This food prevents the  waste of bread crumbs.

ÇİRİŞ
Ingredients: herb paste and milk.
Preparation: Firstly  milk is boiled  in a bowl.  Cleaned and finely chopped herb paste is poured into the boiling milk.  After thoroughly cooked it is serviced.

TO BE CONTINUED… ;) 

HISTORICAL  MONUMENTS  IN KAYSERİ AND TOURISTIC INFORMATION 

Beside its natural beauty Kayseri has loads of historical artifacts. Since it is an old centre of population,  there  are many many historical artifacts and places. The most important  of these are the ones belonging to Ottomans and Seljukians. Seljukian monument are found mostly in Kayseri after Konya. These work of arts are worthseeing. Some of the important ones are below:

·      Kayseri castle

·      Zamantı castle

·      Şahmelik castle

·      Yeşilhisar castle

·      Develi castle

·      Hunad hatun social complex

·      Ulu camii

ERCİYES MOUNTAIN

First of all I want to start with my words by  giving  a common information about this giant mountain.

Erciyes mountain is the highest mountain of Middle Anatolian Region. Erciyes, burned-out strata volcano, is a massif rising suddenly near the plains which is 25 km southern west of the centrum of Kayseri. Its summit is like a dame from a distance and there are 2 summits. This huge mountain is the symbol of Kayseri.

It is thought that Many hundred years ago the ashes of Erciyes has cause the fairy chimneys in Cappadocia  to come into existence. Moreover there are some caves in which churchmen live in seclusion  once upon a time, and these caves are the shelter for mountaineer in bad weather conditions.

Furhher more this mountain is one of turkey’s fundamental ski centers. Erciyes ski track in among the best ski track of the world.

When I was in high school we had visited this wonderful ski center. Everywhere was snowwhite and full of people. There was of course cold but we weren’t untroubled by it. Because it was really entertaining to be there with our friends.  The negative  part was that we didn’t know how to sky and every second we were falling. Despite this we had enjoyed a lot. I want to visit there as soon as possible and of course I suggest you to go at the earliest;)

DEREBAG WATERFALLS

The most important features of Derebağwaterfall is that it is close to the centrum of Yahyalı and also it is one of the important holiday resort of Kayseri. This waterfall Moreover I can say that it has a big tourism potential. Its snow water which consists of Aladağlar flows in summer and winter and pour approximately 30 m height.

To me, the most beautiful time to visit there is the spring. Because its water rises at that time and this makes the waterfall more appealing. Once we have stayed in a place which is very close to that waterfall. Whenever we were bored we would prepare our dinner and go there. Furthermore the sound of water get you relax while you are sipping your teaJ

WATERFALLS IN YAHYALI

KAPUZBAŞI WATERFALLS

Yahyalı is famous for Kapuzbası waterfalls as well as its carpets. The way between Yahyalı and Kapuzbası is stabilized, rough, lane and crooked. However, the landscape of the way large part of which comprises of forest is delighting.

Kapuz bası waterfalls, which are the second highest waterfall of the world, fascinate the visitors. They live on the snow and ices on the peak of Aladag. Moreover they are far from Yeşilköy 3 km and welcome the visitors with freshness of its icy waters babbling on summer warmth. There are two waterfalls near the Zamantı river and on the head of the bridge covering the river.

In this area, there are 7 waterfalls; 5 of which are big and 2 of which are small, each of which has the power of feeding valley. What is more,far from 7 km to Yahyalı, Derebag Waterfall which has the magnificence captivating the visitors is the natural wonder which will impress the people who want to see this.

Kapuzbası waterfalls, are in the border of the Aladag National Park. Waterfall is one of the most beautiful stopping places. Some groups going to this beautiful place by walking for 5 days, are camping near the Kapuzbası waterfalls. We suggest that you should go this place especially in summer days;)

Hi visitors!!

This blog will be created to introduce an awesome, marvelous place,  “ Yahyalı” : an undiscovered paradise. As you can guess, it is my hometown:) In this blog, you can see some different delicious tastes of Yahyalı, and some specific places of it. I hope you will have fun with this paradise:)

FOODS

In Yahyalı, where the life of semi-nomadic goes on partially in the form of transhumance , reflects continental climate on culture. People keen on the foods made on dough. Notably “bazlama” all kind of pastry are the indispensible foods of breakfast. Preparation to winter turns into virtually competition among the women. Beside the pastry preparation, fruits and vegetables are stored by sun-drying or like canned foods suitable for the winter, as well. Moreover, picking up some plants growing on the mountain such as ‘yemlik’, ‘kuzukulak’, ‘çiris’, ‘cırtlık’, ‘övelek’, ‘mushroom’ which appear in spring becomes a tradition for people of Yahyalı.  Similarly, people benefits from some plants such as ‘kusburnu’, ‘kızılcık’, ‘narpız’ in fall.