Güzel atlar diyarı: Kapadokya'daki orta Bizans yerleşimlerinde yer alan ahırlar

The present work is a study on horses and horse breeding in Middle Byzantine Cappadociawith special attention being paid to the architectural evidence, namely, the stables. The majoraim here is to test the hypothesis that the landowner magnates living in monumental rock-cutmansions bred horses in their large stables to supply their own troops, as well as those of theimperial army. In order to evaluate this further, this thesis investigates the stables of the elitemansions in three settlements, Açık Saray, Çanlı Kilise, and Selime-Yaprakhisar. Thearchitecture of the stables is discussed along with their possible functions and meanings.Architectural data is supplemented by literary evidence on horses and horse breeding in theByzantine world.Keywords: Byzantine horses, horse breeding, Byzantine stables, Cappadocia