Where
to Visit in Cappadocia
Göreme, in which there are lots of
fairy chimneys and churches, is declared
as an open air museum. Tokalı Church,
Priestesses and Priests Monastery, Saint
Basil Chapel, Elmalı Church, Saint
Barbara Chapel, Yılanlı (Saint
Onuphrius) Church, Karanlık Church,
Çarıklı Church, El Nazar
Church, Saklı Church, Mother Mary (Kılıçlar
Kuşluk) Church, Saint Eustathios
Church and Durmuş Kadir Churches
within its territories are valuable to
visit places.
Valleys, composed of tuff rocks between Göreme
Valley and Aktepe, are known as Büyük
and Küçük Kılıçlar. There is
Kılıçlar Church within the
valley, which has an impressive appearance
with tunnels, fairy chimneys in which
water ways are passing by and interesting
shaped rocks.
Göreme Open Air Museum
Göreme is a wide open air museum, in
which there are Fairy Chimneys and lots of
churches. Very interesting churches, which
are within one of the most important
centers of Christianity, Göreme, are
under protection.
Pembe Valley
The most stunning examples of the local
landscape and the Fairy Chimneys can be
seen along the route to Avanos. Many of
these rock formations resemble animals,
and the shapes of camels and rabbits can
be seen.
Kızılçukur
As a centre of grape and wine production,
Kizilcukur, a couple of kilometres
northwest of Urgup, contains churches cut
into the strange rock formations and
decorated with grape figures. The rocks
are decorated in different colours, making
it a spectacular sight at sunset.
Mustafapaşa
Located 5km from Urgup, the small village
of Mustafapasa has old stone houses with
attractive carved facades dating back to
the end of the 19th century, and a cluster
of small churches. Once known as Sinasos
when it was a thriving Greek community
before World War I, it makes an
interesting trip from Urgup although is
not easily accessible by public transport.
Places of interest include a 19th century
medrese, the Ayios Vasilios Church, and
the Church of Sts Constantine and Helena.
There are several small guest-houses and
restaurants.
Sarıhan
Sarihan (Yellow Caravanserai), around 10km
north of Urgup, was constructed by Seljuk
Sultan Alaattin Keykubat in 1217. It has a
huge courtyard with elaborate gateway, and
was used for the loading of animals and a
place for travellers break their journey.
It is also a great example of
Seljuk-Turkish architecture. The road was
re-laid and the building restored in the
late 1980s, and is now functioning as a
museum and cultural centre with
performances of dervish dancing in the
summer. There is little public transport
to Sarihan.
Halacdere
Engraved into the tuffs, these
basilica-type churches were thought to
have been used as hospital buildings by
the Christians, and are now almost
destroyed. Similar ones can be seen in
Ortahisar, like St Peter and St Paul
Churches, and the one near the Meskendir
River.
Fıratkan
On the road to the Goreme Open Air Museum,
Firatkan is a small complex of churches.
They have two storeys, consisting of a
dormitory, dining hall, kitchen and
storerooms, and the storeys are connected
to each other through tunnels.
Ortahisar
This village, 3 km southeast of the Goreme
Valley, is most famous for its 50m high
rock-castle, which is visible from the
main road. It is possible to climb the
rock, which offers stunning views of the
surrounding area. This attractive farming
village also has examples of the monastery
lifestyle, and is a strong cultural and
commercial centre. Other places of
interest in this area include Harim
Church, Sanca Church and Cambazli Church.
Damsa Dam
Constructed on the Damsa River, the dam is
17 km from Urgup and used mainly for
irrigation. It is now an attractive area
for walks and picnics, on the shore of the
Damsa Lake, surrounded by pine forests and
offering good shade in the summer. It is a
convenient place to stop en route to
Mustafapasa, Taskinpasa and Soganli.
MUSEUMS
Ürgüp Museum
In the museum, which is opened on 1971,
there are Prehistorical, Ancient Bronze
Age, Hittite, Frig, Persia, Hellenistic,
Roman, Byzantium and Ottoman period pieces
of arts besides Ürgüp and environs
acquired fossil samples. There is also an
ethnographic section for regional clothes,
furniture and guns within the museum.
Ruins of Ürgüp Museum are Mustafapaşa
(Sinasos) Aios Vasilios Church, Monastery
Valley Churches, Yeşilöz (Saint
Theodor) Church and Pancarlık Church.
RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS
Saint Theodore (Tagar) Church
Around 15 km southeast of Urgup, the
village of Yesiloz contains the famous
T-shaped St Thoedore’s Church. It is
possible to access the gallery on the
upper floor by a ladder, making it unique
in Cappadocia. The church has been
decorated by three artists, whose pictures
are generally well preserved. Scenes
depicted include the prophets, the
disciples, Christ on the crucifix and the
angels Gabriel and Michael.
Pancarlık Church
South of Ortahisar in the Pancarlik
Valley, this church dates back to the
first half of the 11th century. Its
intricate religious paintings are
predominantly green, and have generally
been well preserved. They depict a vast
range of biblical scenes, including
Joseph’s second dream, the escape to
Egypt, the miracle of the water into wine,
the loaves and fishes, the cure of a
leper, Christ on the crucifix and later
his resurrection.
Scenes
Appearances of the prophets, herald,
visit, evidence of virginity, voyage to
Beytüllahim, birth, worship of three
astrologer, second dream of Joseph, escape
to Egypt, massacre of innocent children,
introduction of Jesus Christ to temple,
follow up of Elizabeth, appointment of
Baptist Yahya, baptism, test of Jesus
Christ, Kana marriage, wine miracle, fish
and bread augmentation, appointment of
disciples for sake of God, cure of devil
crooked man, cure of leper man, cure of
disabled woman, cure of daughter of Jairus,
fish augmentation miracle, Jesus Christ
and woman from Samarra, metamorphism,
Jesus Christ on the way to Golgotha, Jesus
on crucifix, Landing of Jesus Christ to
inferno, rise of Jesus Christ to the sky,
angel Gabriel and Michael and saint
pictures in medallions.
Ala Church and Kepez Churches
These are considered important churches in
the region, located on the road to
Pancarkil. They have plain red
decorations, and frescoes.
Balkan Churches
These form a small cluster, some 2 km from
Ortahisar, and date back to the Ikolonazma
period.
Taşkınpaşa Mosque
In the centre of the village of Damsa, 20
km south of Urgup, Taskinpasa mosque dates
back to the Karamanlilar period. Its
balcony is made of walnut ornamental
inlaying, which is the only remaining one
of its kind. The Taskinpasa Tomb,
belonging to Hizir Reis, is opposite the
mosque and belongs to the same period.
CASTLES
Kadı Castle
This rock-castle was a place of refuge for
women and children during times of danger.
A tunnel opened to the Damsa River,
constructed for the purpose. Most of the
building has since collapsed mainly due to
erosion, but the undamaged section is open
to visitors.
TOMBS
Temenni (Mausoleum )
This monumental Selcuk tomb, constructed
by Vecihi Pasa and dedicated to
Kilicarslan IV, dates back to 1288.
Perched on Kadi Kalesi, the most peculiar
feature of the tomb is the 700m tunnel, of
which the original purpose is unclear. It
has an Ottoman library, one of the oldest
in Anatolia, with photographs of pre-1923
Urgup. Visitors are allowed to walk
through the corridor that leads to the
point of a wonderful view of the
surrounding countryside.
Opening hours: 08:30 – 18:00, daily.
Altıkapı
Literally translating as Six Gates Tomb,
this monument in the north of the city
centre was constructed by a commander from
the 12th of 13th century Selcuk period,
and dedicated to his wife and children.
Zelve
About 5 km from Avanos and 1 km from
Pasabaglari, Zelve was founded on the
steep northern slopes of Aktepe.
Consisting of three separate valleys, the
ruins of Zelve is the area with the most
'fairy chimneys' - a famous sight special
to Cappadocia - which here have sharp
points and thick trunks. It is not known
exactly when people began living in the
dwellings carved into the rock, found in
places like Uchisar, Goreme, Cavusin and
Zelve. What is known is that Zelve was an
important Christian community and
religious centre in the 9th and 13th
centuries, and the first religious
seminars for priests were held in the
vicinity.
Çavuşin (Nicephorus Phocas)
Church
It is beside the Göreme-Avanos road 2.5
km out of Göreme. The narthex of this
church has fallen down. It has tunnel
vaults, a high nave and 3 apses. It dates
back to 964-965 AD.
Güllüdere (St. Agathangelus)
Church
It is located in the far left draw of the
Güllüdere valley about 2 km from the
village of Çavuşin. It was founded
at the mouth of the draw on top of a steep
slope.
The design of the nave is square with a
flat ceiling and it has a single broad
apse. The apse was added in the 9th or
10th century to the main structure dating
back to the 6th - 7th century. There are 2
or 3 layers of frescoes in the apse which
indicates that it was painted regularly.
Symbols of Gospel authors are drawn
symmetrically and are sitting on the right
and left of an enthroned Jesus.
In the middle of the flat ceiling is
the relief of a cross in the middle of a
circle surrounded with palm leaves and
garlands. This sort of relief most likely
belongs to the Iconoclastic period. The
people of the area had a great love for
the cross and it continued to be used as a
motif after the Iconoclastic era because
it symbolized the "Holy Cross"
in Jerusalem.
Özkonak Underground City
Located 14 km northeast of Avanos, this
underground city was built on the northern
slopes of Mt. Idis in an area with lots of
strata made up of volcanic granite. The
extensive galleries of the city are spread
out over a large area and connected to
each another by tunnels. Unlike the
underground cities in Kaymakli and
Derinkuyu, there are very narrow (5 cm)
and long holes between the different
levels of the city that used to provide
communication between the different levels
of the city. The ventilation of these
neatly carved out rooms was provided by
these holes when the city was sealed up
against enemies.
The city was discovered in 1972 by the
local muezzin and farmer Latif Acar, when
trying to find out where the water
disappeared to when tending to his crops.
He first found an underground room which,
when later excavated, revealed a whole
city which housed an incredible 60,000
people for up to three months. A total of
10 floors were discovered, to a depth 40m,
although now only four are open.
Unlike the other underground cities in
this area, besides the rolling stone
doors, there were holes above the tunnels
used for dumping hot oil on the enemy.
Similar to Kaymakli and Derinkuyu, Ozkonak
has a ventilation system, a water well, a
winery and rolling stone doors.
Opening hours: Summer 08.00 - 19.00;
winter 08.00 - 17.00
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