Urbanautica

THE ROSE VALLEY AND THE RED VALLEY IN CAPPADOCIA

by Steve Bisson

«The two valleys emerging from this context reveal the extent and profound value of a landscape in which forms of human settlement and the sensational geology of the land conserve the traces of an ancient culture of living based extensively on rock-cut dwellings in an equilibrium between different manifestations of the nature and the cultures succeeding each other here over the centuries.»

© Catalog 'Güllüdere and Kızılçukur: the Rose Valley and the Red Valley in Cappadocia', FBSR, 2020

Every year since 1990, Fondazione Benetton Ricerche has awarded the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens – named in honour of Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978), architect and garden designer – to a place in the world that is particularly dense in natural values, memory, and invention, identified in the wake of encounters, specific research projects, and in-depth study trips. The Prize involves a campaign comprising a series of activities contributing to the knowledge, safeguarding and promotion of the designated place. The Scientific Committee of Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche has decided to dedicate the thirty-first edition of the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens to a site in Asia Minor that emerged out of the complex history and geography of Cappadocia: two adjoining valleys carved out of the volcanic rock known as the Rose and Red Valleys, Güllüdere and Kızılçukur in Turkish.

© Catalog 'Güllüdere and Kızılçukur: the Rose Valley and the Red Valley in Cappadocia', FBSR, 2020

© Marco Zanin

© Catalog 'Güllüdere and Kızılçukur: the Rose Valley and the Red Valley in Cappadocia', FBSR, 2020

© Marco Zanin

© Catalog 'Güllüdere and Kızılçukur: the Rose Valley and the Red Valley in Cappadocia', FBSR, 2020

© Marco Zanin

Cappadocia lies in the heart of the Anatolian peninsula, a bridge for the different cultures between Asia and Europe, between the Mediterranean and Black Sea. It consists of a series of plateaus over 1,000 metres in altitude surrounded by volcanic peaks, with an arid land carved by wind and water, and a difficult climate. All of these factors have shaped the natural landscape of a region that saw the arrival of early Christianity and the Fathers of the Church in the first centuries onwards, followed by the diffusion of the Byzantine culture with its countless eremitic and monastic settlements, churches and sanctuaries, thus giving rise to one of the leading Christian communities of the first millennium. This community produced a series of spaces decorated with stunning cycles of paintings, sacred buildings and constructions scattered throughout a vast territory. From the 13th century onwards, as the Byzantine presence declined, these buildings were turned into stables, rural dwellings and cisterns, and into a multitude of dovecotes providing farmers with the guano necessary to fertilize their fields. The two valleys emerging from this context reveal the extent and profound value of a landscape in which forms of human settlement and the sensational geology of the land conserve the traces of an ancient culture of living based extensively on rock-cut dwellings in an equilibrium between different manifestations of the nature and the cultures succeeding each other here over the centuries.

This is a context of rapid changes, abandonment of traditional landscapes, the emergence of new uses and forms of settlement connected to mass tourism, and an overall rise in studies and discoveries linked to this vast historical heritage. And it is in this context that we find an Italian team working towards the recovery of the precious painting cycles contained in these rock-cut churches. In the process, they have not only established significant human and cultural relationships but also contributed to restoring the legibility and value of an entire landscape.
Their work embodies the value of citizenship, the sense of belonging and care for a place that crosses national boundaries.

The exhibition Cappadocia. The landscape in the depths of the rock, curated by Patrizia Boschiero and Luigi Latini, is set up in Ca’ Scarpa, Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche’s new cultural space in the former Church of Santa Maria Nova. The renovation of the building was designed by architect Tobia Scarpa. The exhibition will be open to the public until January 2021. In March and April there will be various public conferences organized by Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche in collaboration with IUAV University of Venice and the University of Florence.
The focus of the exhibition and of the various activities involved in the prize is a place in Asia Minor that emerged out of the complex history and geography of Cappadocia: two adjoining valleys carved out of the volcanic rock, the memory of an ancient culture of living.

The exhibition comprises four sections, each occupying a floor of the exhibition space, which will be inaugurated on this occasion. On the ground floor is the first section, which is dedicated to the landscape of the valleys, especially in the sense of their pathways and the survival of traditional forms of agriculture co-existing with the volcanic soils in this region. The second section, on the first floor, examined the geological character of the place in relation to the different forms of rupestrian settlement and architecture present. The third section, on the second floor, focuses on the outstanding artistic heritage distinguishing the churches and other rock-cut buildings, as well as on the work of the Tuscia University of Viterbo, which has, for many decades, been engaged in research, conservation and promotion activities in this area. The first three sections draw upon photographic materials while the fourth section provides visitors with a documentary-style narrative involving the screening of the film created in the context of the Prize, Güllüdere e Kızılçukur: la Valle delle Rose e la Valle Rossa in Cappadocia, directed by Davide Gambino, with Gabriele Gismondi, which will alternate, on specific days and at specific times, with screenings of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Medea (1969), much of which set in these very Cappadocian sites.

The exhibition will also provide the opportunity to present the documentary film Güllüdere and Kızılçukur: the Rose Valley and the Red Valley in Cappadocia produced by Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche and directed by Davide Gambino, in collaboration with Gabriele Gismondi, and the collective volume 'Güllüdere and Kızılçukur: the Rose Valley and the Red Valley in Cappadocia', edited by Patrizia Boschiero and Luigi Latini, Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche-Antiga, Treviso 2020.

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