Cappadocia Mobile LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Dataset

The dataset includes 6 3D point cloud files collected with Velodyne VLP-16 mobile LiDAR (*.las) belonging to 4 cultural and natural heritage structures located in Cappadocia, Türkiye. The structures are:

1- St. Theodore Church (Interior & Exterior): The Church of St. Theodore is located in Yeşilöz Village in Ürgüp district of Nevşehir. Formerly known as Tagar, now known as Yesiloz Village is approximately 16 km from the center of Urgup district and is a settlement area built on the slope of the valley. The church was carved into a large rock mass on the hill northwest of the village. As a result of excavations near the village, a monastery with a courtyard on three sides was discovered. It is thought that the church belonged to this monastery. The church is called both St. Theodore and Tagar Church. Although it is not known where the name Theodore comes from, it is estimated that this name may have been given because the church was built in the name of St. Theodore. 

2- Mustafa Efendi Mosque (Interior & Exterior): The masonry Mustafa Efendi Mosque in Bahçeli Village of Ürgüp District of Nevşehir Province is the oldest of the 3 mosques built in the village. It is estimated that it was built about 50 years before the Osman Efendi Mosque, which was presented as a proposed building within the scope of the project, with a construction date of 1746. Although it is known to have a small inscription with the date of construction, this inscription was not found during the survey. According to this information, Mustafa Efendi Mosque is estimated to be a 17th-18th century work.

3- Fairy Chimney: The distance between Bahçeli Village where the fairy chimney is located and Urgup district is 15 kilometers and the formations between these two areas are generally natural formations without caps and in the late fairy chimney period. It shows that the fairy chimney is a natural formation without a cap and in the late fairy chimney period. The fairy chimney is in the 1st degree natural protected area.

4- Masonry House: Bahçeli Village, where the building examined within the scope of the project is located, is 15 km away from Ürgüp district and is a mixed settlement type. There are approximately 200 cove-carved and masonry historical buildings in the village. A large part of the village, including the structures examined in the village, is a 3rd degree natural protected area. The masonry-rock-carved civil architecture dwelling in Bahçeli Village, Ürgüp District, Nevşehir has not been in use since the 1980s and some of the spaces have been completely lost.

The creation of this dataset was funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK) 1001 program under Project no. 122Y017.