Cappadocia and Turkey’s Christian Past

In Cappadocia, the Islamic call to prayer is heard through loudspeakers during a Friday sunset. My parents and I do not understand the prayer times; the Arabic language is incomprehensible to my Anglophone ears. Yet the call to prayer lasts no longer than a minute. Sunset, in Islam, is for the Maghrib prayer—one of the five mandatory salahs during the day. New travellers to Turkey quickly become accustomed to the call to prayer. My family are neither Muslim nor Turkish. We are Roman Catholics from Australia. We know we are in a Muslim country with a Christian past. Our intellectual curiosity—and passion for history—has taught us the importance of being diplomatic when encountering cultures that are not ours. There’s plenty to adore about Turkey: the turquoise coast, Ephesus, Ottoman palaces and Gallipoli are all terrific and worth seeing, even if the lira keeps inflating. The Turkish people are hospitable and lively.

We walk down a steep hill, past the cave hotels and…