SPECIAL CAPPADOCIA TOURS
Professional Licensed Tour Guides
Cappadocia Cave Hotels
Ballooning in Cappadocia
Whirling Dervish Show
Cappadocia in 1 Day
Talk to your guide and design your own one-day tour in Cappadocia from these sights
Devrent Valley
Devrent Valley, also known as "Imagination Valley", is the most surreal-looking landscape.
This is one part of Cappadocia that really makes me feel I am on a different planet.
Thousands of years of wind, rain and extreme temperature changes have worn the beautifully colored rocks into strange
and wonderful animal and human shapes that make you think a modern sculptor has been living in the valley. You are wrong!
You have just been introduced to the work of nature's greatest artist, Erosion.
Zelve Open Air Museum
Zelve is the perfect example of a traditional rock village that was inhabited until the 1960's.
It is situated at the foot of a table mountain and consists of three converging valleys
formed by rain and snow water rushing down from the heights above.
Cave homes were carved into the sides of the valleys at ground level,
and much higher up were other carved shelters used as dovecotes in normal times and as safe hiding places in times of danger.
High-level tunnels (we will go through one of them) still connect one valley to the next.
The village was only built on this spot because it formed such a safe and sheltered place, with the
steep valley sides and the mountain forming an impenetrable backdrop.
The inhabitants were certainly prepared to put up with some hardship in return for this security as
the only constant water source is half a mile outside the village.
Despite the violent world outside, the Muslims and Christians in this village lived together in peace centuries, and their mosque and church stand side-by-side even today as a perfect illustration to the modern world that people of different religions can live in harmony.
Pashabagi
Pashabagi means "The Pasha's Vineyard", a name it received after
the Byzantine Greek population left the region. In Seljuk and Ottoman times, it
was called "Papaz'in Bagi" or "The Monk's Vineyard" because Christian
hermits chose to locate hermit cells and churches in these three-headed pinnacles
symbolic of the Holy Trinity. Perhaps such symbolism helped these monks
develop a greater understanding of God. This peaceful, attractive valley is famous for its three-headed fairy
chimneys, and it's possible to see all the stages in the formation of
fairy chimneys at this spot. The vineyards surrounding these natural wonders are still
cultivated by locals (you can taste the grapes from September on), and
trees such as apricot, apple, pear, quince, cherry, mulberry and walnut
are plentiful.
Cavusin Castle
The village of Cavusin (pronounced 'cha-voo-sheen') is the location of
a spectacular rock castle that once housed everyone in the village. If
you climb up you can see the ruins of the church of Saint John the Baptist, a very
large Byzantine church. Walk around the castle and visit some of the
homes that were lived in until recently, and see the local fairy
chimneys.
Avanos (pottery, ceramics, tiles)
The red, iron-ore bearing clay deposited by
the longest river in Turkey, The Kizilirmak, or 'Red River', known
to classical scholars as The Halys, has been used to make pottery
in Avanos for thousands of years. During the second millennium BCE,
Avanos was inhabited by Assyrian traders, and it was later taken over by
the Hittites, who called the river the "Marassantiya". Some of the
techniques and designs used by potters today date back to this period.
At one time every house had a potters wheel, and no family would give
their daughter in marriage if the groom could not make pots! Today, the
best of the ceramics and tiles on sale in Istanbul and other major
cities are made here. You can watch potters spinning their traditional
kick-wheels with their feet, and even try throwing a pot yourself.
Love Valley
This special valley, not far from the main road, is missed by many visitors. What is special about it? Well, you simply have to see it to believe it!
Goreme Open Air Museum
The world's most important Byzantine cave churches are found in these once remote valleys where
monks and nuns pursued monastic life from the 3rd century on.
Saint Basil, one of the three Cappadocian Fathers of the Church and Bishop of
Caesarea (Kayseri) who first formulated the rules for monastic
life later adapted in the west by Saint Benedict, if not familiar with
the place himself, directly influenced the lifestyle of the monastic
orders in these valleys. Here you can see the best
preserved in-situ Byzantine cave wall paintings and frescos from the
Iconoclastic period through to the end of Seljuk rule. Icons with scenes from the
Old Testament and the New Testament above portraits of Church Fathers
and saints depict the structure of the Byzantine universe. The best
examples, the Dark Church and the Buckle Church, should not be missed.
Esentepe Panorama
This is the best panoramic viewpoint from which to see the complete view
of Goreme valley and Goreme village: fairy chimneys, rock formations
and cave houses. Goreme means "can't see", but this is the one place
where you can "see" it all! The village is full of fairy
chimneys, some of which have been converted into homes by cutting caves
out of the soft volcanic rock. If you are interested, it may be possible
to visit a local family's cave home and see the inside of one of these
fascinating houses.
Uchisar Castle Rockscape
This tall rock, the highest point of the Goreme region, is a 25-floor
beehive of cave rooms forming an underground-type city reaching into the
sky. It was used as a citadel during Roman, Byzantine and Seljuk times,
but more recently in the Ottoman period the upper rooms were converted
into dovecotes, the guano being essential for the fertilization of the
region's phosphorus-free land. The other old houses built around this
fortress were used as homes until 20 years ago when modern style houses
with plumbing were built in the village. The view of the Cappadocian
countryside from the top is just brilliant.
Pigeon Valley
The viewpoint over this awesome valley, named for the number of
dovecotes carved out of the rocks, affords
a spectacular view of old abandoned cave homes and old Greek houses of Uchisar. Villagers still keep pigeons for their guano, the best
fertilizer for the local tufaceous soil. Pigeon guano is
different from other natural fertilizers because it does not encourage
weeds.
Underground City
A not-to-be-missed sight in Cappadocia is an underground city. Once upon a time, all towns and villages in Cappadocia had safe and secure secret rooms dug out of the soft tufa (tuff) rock where the inhabitants could hide in times of danger. However, the underground cities of Kaymakli, the 'Land of Cream', and Derinkuyu, 'Deep Well', are intrinsically different because their size, scale, and evidence of underground city planning. Up to 50 meters deep and 3 kilometers wide, as many as 5,000 people were able to hide safely underground out of site of the enemy, with their store of food that could last for months if necessary.
Life (and death) could continue relatively normally in these well-ventilated cities lit by linseed-oil lamps, which had their own water supply, stockpiled food, kitchens, toilets, churches and even graveyards safe behind their gigantic circular mill-stone doors which could only be opened from the inside. The people could even cook food safely, as multiple chimneys dispersed the smoke imperceptibly so their presence would not be discovered by the enemy.
When were the underground cities 'built'?
Nobody knows, but the first mention of them is in Xenophon's 'Anabasis' or
'account of his military expedition' carried out between 401 BCE and 399 BCE. He reported that
'the houses were underground structures with an aperture like the mouth of a well by which to enter,
but they were broad and spacious below.
The entrance for the beasts of burden was dug out,
but the human occupants descended by a ladder. In these dwellings were
to be found goats and sheep and cattle, and cocks and hens, with their
various progeny. The flocks and herds were all reared under cover upon
green food. There were stores within of wheat and barley and vegetables,
and wine made from barley in great big bowls. The grains of barley malt
lay floating in the beverage up to the lip of the vessel, and reeds lay
in them, some longer, some shorter, without joints; when you were
thirsty you must take one of these into your mouth, and suck. The
beverage without a mixture of water was very strong, and of a delicious
flavor to certain palates, but the taste must be acquired.' Xenophon
also describes the wonderful hospitality offered to foreigners, a
tradition that still exists in the region today and an aspect of my
culture that I'm very proud of.
Ortahisar Culture Museum
This is a new museum with very realistic displays of typical scenes of
everyday traditional life from making 'pekmez', Anatolia's traditional
grape molasses or syrup, to the bridal chamber. The intricate attention
to even the smallest details of local tradition make this
exhibition interesting even for Turks from other regions. The museum is
connected to a cafe and restaurant where you can drink the owner's
special Ozbek tea served in traditional cups.
Urgup's Fairy Chimneys
Let me introduce you to Urgup's most famous family of fairy chimneys:
mother, father and daughter! Three million years ago, volcanic eruptions
left pyroclastic deposits over the area that have been eroded ever since
by heat, frost, wind, and rain water into these neat pinnacles with
hats. These fairy chimneys are the official symbol of both Urgup and
Cappadocia, and I can't imagine living anywhere that doesn't have such
interesting rock formations!
Contact Us for all your tours in Cappadocia
All our guides are members of TUREB (Federation of Turkish Tourist Guide Associations), which is affiliated to WFTGA (World
Federation of Tourist Guide Associations).
All guiding services are brought to you by Honeycomb Tours, Adnan's own travel agency based in Cappadocia, a TURSAB member (Association of Turkish Travel Agencies), License Number 5361.
All rights reserved.
This is a copyrighted website.
Version 4.0
