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Region size: About 1,500 square miles, slightly larger than Long Island, N.Y.
Gateway city: Kayseri.
Gateway city’s original name: Caesarea.
Number of cave churches (estimated): Maybe 1,000.
Churches with surviving frescoes: About 150
Number of underground cities (estimated): At least 40, and possibly hundreds. They’re still finding them.
Most famous king: Midas.
Most famous tourists: Alexander the Great and Marco Polo.
Most famous local saints: Basil and two key Gregorys. Maybe Paul.
Tails, they lost: The Lydians, who ruled for a while, invented coins before being routed by the Persians in 547 B.C.
Most famous thoroughfare: The Silk Road.
