a volcanic landscape where one marvels at the twisted lunar landscape formed by successive volcanic eruptions of two now-extinct volcanoes, Hasan and Erciyes

Like Judea and several other states, Cappadocia was a "client kingdom" for many years under the Romans. It occupied an advantageous location on the east side of the great central plateau of Asia Minor, characterized by good agriculture and an influential location in the power politics of the day. It became an extremely important and influential centre of early Christian spirituality, especially known for its monasteries.

Today Cappadocia is a region of spectacular volcanic landscape, riddled with rock-cut churches and dwellings, that has justly become a centre for tourism. The Roman province of Cappadocia, with its capital at Caesarea Mazaca, later called Caesarea Cappadociae, modern Kayseri; was, however, much larger. The name Cappadocia most probably owes its origin to the establishment of the Persian Satrapy (Province) of Katpatuka which, with a new capital at Mazaca, would presumably have been a creation of Cyrus the Great in the 540s. If this is correct, the use of the term Cappadocia by Herodotus in describing events in the first half of the 6th century is anachronistic.

In ancient geography, Cappadocia (or Capadocia) (from Persian: Katpatuka meaning "the land of beautiful horses", Greek: Καππαδοκία; see also List of traditional Greek place names; Turkish Kapadokya) was an extensive inland district of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). In the time of Herodotus the Cappadocians occupied the whole region from Mount Taurus to the Euxine (Black Sea).