Cappadocia's Last Standing Mill Sacrificed for Road Construction

The last remaining windmill in the Cappadia region, a famous venue in 1970s Turkish movies, has been demolished on December 15 for a road construction after all its stone texture was sold to contractors.

The mill was famous for being the plot scene for Dila Hanim, a Turkish love saga starred by Kadir İnanır and Türkan Şoray in 1978. The scene where the couple grinded wheat in the mill still marked as one of the most memorable scene in the Turkish film history.

"The road construction plan did not include the mill. The windmill was not approved to be included. Though we didn't permit the destruction of the water mine in the area," officials from Ürgüp district municipality told bianet.

Hasan Hüseyin Dilaver, a retired professor born in Ürgüp, said he warned officials to preserve the mill even though it was already in ruins.

"The mill could be used for touristic purposes. We submitted a recommendation which suggested the mill to be transformed into a venue where local gastronomy would be promoted. Our efforts yielded no results."

Dilaver also complained that several historical heritages including mosques, schools, churches, fountains, Turkish baths, graveyards, marketplaces, hostels, auction houses and mills disappeared in the past decade for unpersuasive construction efforts in Ürgüp.

"How many historical building is there left to show tourists?" Dilaver inquired, underscoring that local governments should consult local NGOs and residents on decisions related to deconstruction of historical heritage. (NV)