A House on The Rocks

In Kemaliye, (details on previous post) there is an extraordinary house and story.

They built their house on rocks, after working in Istanbul and retiring.  Bekir and Nermin Taştan couple, who returned to their township of Kemaliye in Erzincan, their house amazed on the rocks.

After working in Istanbul for many years, they decided to return to Kemaliye. With their relatives and villagers, they wanted to spend a retirement time away from the noise of the city.  The couple started to work to make the house that was a great dream for them.

She explains, “At the beginning we did not find a  workers and master and afterwards a few masters came and looked at the rocky place and wanted very high price. Some of them  did not want to do it … I am very insistent. After all, all our relatives helped us and we all  that my brother-in- my brother-in-law, my nephews carried something up together, and also with animal power, sand, cement, stone carved down and from there up and carved up. ”

When they decided to make their house on the rocks, people said that it wasn’t a good idea and not a clever project. But now, the same people finding their house so admiring.

They have a wonderful view from their house, watching river and town from the top place of the town.

The first attention of tourists is being always their  house that they built on the cliffs.

But tourists, should walk, up there, with  96 steps…

They say, ” we do not remember any car, going to the center, or passing through the highway, they leave the town without  taking a picture, or  without stopping here and walking the 96-step stairway, . When they visit us, we share what we have. This is a private property, we do not know when and who will come, we are welcome to anyone. From time to time we are happy, but when the busy crowds come to the top, we don’t know what to do, sometimes over 70-80 people are coming. Because we don’t have a large rooms.”

As they told,  film makers,  film  production company, offered them to use their use for their works. “We have never thought about it, this is  just a house that we built with our own efforts and just wanted to live in peace with nature in our retire days.”