habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

A. De Pascale, R. Bixio, V. CaloiRocky structuresCone dwellings/villagesErosion has shaped the soft volcanic deposits in a large varietyof shapes, among which very remarkable are the pinnacles,or rocky cones locally known as peri bacaları or ‘fairychimneys’. Many of these have been dug to obtain hermitages,dwellings, stores. The various cone structures are connectedthrough an external net of paths.Cliff dwellings/villagesThey consist mostly of dwellings dug into cliffs overhangingthe valleys. They may be in line on only one level (linearvillage), or on more staggered levels (steps village), or on superimposedlevels (wall village). In this case the rooms insidecommunicate each other through horizontal tunnels or verticalshafts. Rooms on the external surface of cliffs may havesmall windows.The roads generally develop outside the settlements and leadto the cultivated areas. In some case the collapse of large portionsof the tuff allows to have a look at the interior of the settlements,as to form an architectural cross section.Rocky Castle-villagesThese settlements are similar to the wall villages, but with aspecial location. They are dug inside big rocky towers (Ortahisar,Uçhisar), on overlying levels up to the top. Possibly, theywere initially defensive structures.Rocky Courtyard settlementsThey are a particular form of rocky structures that we mightconsider as an intermediate model between the rupestrian andthe underground settlements. In the most common case, thesettlements of this type are arranged around a space bound onthree sides by rocky walls, forming a natural or partially dugenclosure inside a hill slope or cliff, open on the fourth sidetoward the valley (Bixio, 2002). They are often of religiouscharacters (churches, monasteries) as - just to name a few - thecase of Hallaç Manastır in Ortahisar, Aynalı Kilise in Göreme,the several courtyard complexes known as Açıksaray, nearGülşehir (Rodley, 2010, pp. 11-150) and those of Çanlı Kilisein the district of Aksaray, surveyed by Ousterhout (Ousterhout,2005, pp. 79-114, 141-155), even though he believesmost of them are civil and not ecclesiastic settlements. Lesscommon are the settlements excavated around a courtyardenclosed on all the four sides, like a large shaft, obtained diggingin the open from the flat top of a cliff, and going downvertically; a tunnel leads to the outside. We can recall EskiGümüş near Niğde (Bixio, 2002, p. 203; Rodley, 2010, pp. 103-118), Dulkadirli Inlimurat (Karşıyaka), in Kırşehir district(Bixio, 2002, pp. 201-202) and several cases in Güllükkayaand Yaprakhisar, near Selime at the northern opening of thePeristrema/Ihlara valley (Kalas, 2005; 2006).Rocky monasteriesLikely the most frequent structures in the region are the rockyFig. 2 The six today provinces, more or less corresponding to Cappadocia, where rupestrian settlements are located (drawing R. Bixio)193volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 193 16/11/2012 15:03:19