July 15

We visited cave churches in the morning.  We couldn't take photos inside the churches which dated from the 3rd to 11th centuries AD, however parts of interiors of some were exposed because outer walls fell away during the 1953 earthquake.  There were crude religious frescoes in the older churches and quite elaborate ones in the later churches.  The 3rd century church had red clay frescoes on the entry and in the apse and the 11th century church had brilliant colored frescoes on the walls and ceiling, chronicling the birth, life, death & rising of Jesus.  All had a few graves in the entry, but they weren't burial graves, only viewing pits like caskets for the newly deceased.