Mount Hasan In addition to Erciyes, another volcano has contributed to the formation of the Cappadocia region: the Hasandağ. It is 30 km (19 miles) south of Aksaray and on a clear day is also visible from Cappadocia. The Hasandağ is 3268 meters high, and although looks...
The region of Cappadocia, a haven for persecuted Christians and carved churches, was the birthplace of several saints, but none as famous as Saint George, from the second half of the third century; martyr of Christianity, a miracle maker and martyred for his faith. Son of...
For some reasons, the inhabitants of Cappadocia decided to build their cities down the earth. There are not exact dates of the creation of these underground citadels. Some believe that they came from the Hittites and certainly, Xenophon, the Greek historian, refers to them in...
Zelve was the name of a village in the valley of Zelve, inhabited until the 1950s. For its high possibilities of collapse, the population of this settlement was moved to what have been called Yeni Zelve (New Zelve) and the former village is kept like...
Underground Cities (Yeraltı Kentleri) Nobody knows for sure when the underground cities of Cappadocia were built. Maybe in Hittite times or perhaps some of them as late as the sixth century A.D. It is a fact that there were already underground cities in the V century...
Gulludere and Kizilcukur Valleys (Rose and Red) Guludere and Kizilcukur Valleys, also known as the Rose and Red valleys, for their colors, are close to Çavuşin and not far from Goreme. These two valleys were formed by the erosion of Mount Bozdag. You can walk along them...
Urgup is one of the most important centers in Cappadocia, 20 kilometers at the east of Nevsehir. It has had different names in its history: Osiana (Assiana) in the Byzantine period, Bashisar, during Seljuk, Castle Burgut in the Ottoman period and finally Ürgüp, since the...
Uchisar Uchisar is the name of a city, derived from its own fortress. Uc is "tip" and hisar is "fortress", making its name in Turkish means "fortress of the tip". This building, the fortress, is 60 meters (200 feet) high and was not built but carved, sculpted...
Salt Lake -The Tuz Golu, also called Tatta in antiquity, is a closed-end lake surrounded by plateaus. The sources that feed the lake are insufficient, the river Melendiz (Aksaray) and river Pecenekozu (Sereflikochisar). In summer, because of evaporation, the lake dries into a layer of...
Nevsehir was known as Muskara, home of Grand Vizier Damat Ibrahim Pasa, from the Tulip period of the Ottoman Empire, who brought to his hometown many hans, kitchens, hammams, madrasas and other buildings and centers that gave the town a new life. Since then, the...