Cappadocia

Uçhisar


Uçhisar is the highest point of the region, located on Nevşehir- Göreme road. Uçhisar citadel provides a wonderful panaroma of the surrounding area. There are lots of rooms connected to each others with stairs and tunnels. The entrances of many rooms are closed with milestone doors in order to control access to the rooms.Due to the erosion, some of the rooms are closed. The fairy chimneys around Uçhisar were hollowed out and used as graves during the Roman period. Uçhisar Castle is one of the best locations in the region for enjoying the sunset.


Göreme


Göreme is located between Nevşehir and Avanos. It is believed that Göreme and its surroundings were used as a necropolis by the people of Vanessa (Avanos) during the Roman periods. There are lots of monasteries, churches and chapels in the vicinity of Göreme, especially in the Göreme Open Air Museum.

Çavuşin

One of the oldest settlement in the area Çavuşin is stuated 2 km from Göreme, on the Göreme-Avanos road. The church of St John the Baptist offers a panaromic view of the village. This church and its paintings date back to the 5th century, making it the oldest church in the region.

It has a large courtyard which is unusual for Cappadocia, this has eroded away however. Christian missionaries and communities once lived in the old Çavuşin valley, now in ruins. There are five churches at Güllüdere, closed to çavuşin. The Haçlı Church (with the cross) near the valley was also used for defence against Arab raiders.

Avanos (Venessa)


Avanos is an ancient town located on Nevşehir- Kayseri road. The main activity in the town is pottery, a craft dating back to the Hittite period. The red clay which is worked by local craftsmen comes from the residue in the Kızılırmak river.

The 13th century Sarihan Caravansary and the Ottoman Alaaddin Mosque are interesting pieces of architecture in the area.



Zelve

Zelve is located on the northen slopes of Aktepe, 1 km from Paşabağları. The Zelve ruins are spread over three valleys, which also house several pointed fairy chimneys with large stems. The valley was inhabited until 1952.


Besides monasteries and churches, houses, a tunnel joining two of the valleys, a mill, a mosque and several dove-cotes are found in the valley.

Pasabaglari (Monks' Valley)

Pasabagları is situated about 1 km from the Göreme-Avanos road. Many fairy chimneys with multiple stems and caps, some housing chapels and living areas can be found here.


The hermits of Cappadocia distanced themselves from the world by cutting into fairy chimneys rather than living on top of colums. They hollowed out the chimneys from top to bottom creating rooms 10-15 mt high. They lay on beds made from rock, fed by locals via buckets that were lifted by ropes to their loftly perches.


Ürgüp


Ürgüp is one of the most important centers in Cappadocia, located on the east of Nevşehir. The most important remains belonging to the later period are the Roman tombs found in the towns and villages near Ürgüp. Also an important religious center during the Byzantine Period, Ürgüp was a bishopric of the rock-cut churches and monasteries found in the villages, towns and valleys around Ürgüp.


In the 11th century, Ürgüp was an important citadel connecting with Nigde and Konya, important towns of Seljuks. The two buildings from this period are the Altıkapılı and Temenni Tepesi tombs found in the town center. One of the best formed fairy chimneys, Üç Güzeller, is also situated in Ürgüp.

Ortahisar


Ortahisar citadel, built both as a defense and as a settlement, is situated 6 km from Ürgüp, on the road to Nevşehir. Typical examples of the area's civilian architecture can be found among the houses skirting the citadel.

The sides of the valleys are littered with carved out storageareas used for preserving local products such as apples and potatoes, as well as oranges and lemons brought from the Mediterranean. Very interesting churches and monasteries can be found in the surrounding valleys.

Ihlara Valley

This valley is 14 km long and ranging from 100 to 150 meters high. Ihlara Valley stretches from Ihlara to Selime. Situated 40 km from Aksaray, the canyon we see today was eroded by the melendiz river, which found its way through cracks in the basalt and andesite lava, deposited by Mount Hasandağı. There are numerous dwellings, churches, and graves built into the valley walls, some of which are connected by tunnels and corridors.




Derinkuyu Underground City

Derinkuyu is situated 29 km from Nevşehir on the road to Niğde. The underground city is about 85 meters deep. It contains all of the usual rooms found in an underground city; stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, churches and wineries. In addition to these there is a large room on the second floor served as a missionary school. Underground city was opened to visitors in 1965, but only 10 % of the city can be visited. Derinkuyu Underground City is one of the biggest underground cities in the Cappadocia region. 


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