Cappadocia is known for it’s spectacular geological phenomena, especially the strange lunar landscape carved out of a plateau formed from lava and mud. Troglodytes have been living here since a few centuries BC. After the raids of the Arabs into Cappadocia (7th and 8th century), christian monasteries in the area literary went “underground”. Churches, monasteries and living quarters were cut out of the soft rock. After the 8th century resolution of the Iconoclastic “war” the monks were allowed to paint frescoes with representations of the life of Jezus and other saints.