The Turkish region of Cappadocia, a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage, boasts one of the most dramatic sights in the world.
Visiting Cappadocia is such a change from visiting many other busy bustling sights all over Turkey. It is a great pleasure to wander in the vast open space filled with captivating natural attractions which have seen human history dated back in the Bronze Age.
While in Goreme Open Air Museum , the conical formations resulting from the volcanic eruptions that took place millions of years ago, just follow the path up to the top of one of the ridges where a spectacular view of the fairy chimneys awaits you. The natural cone formations contain caves and labyrinths. As early as the third century, those chimneys became a hiding place for early Christians who fled persecution from the Romans, and then later from raiding Muslims. In modern tourism, many caves have been turned into cave houses for tourist stays and the lunar-like setting of Goreme Valley has become popular for hot-air ballooning.
Many say the extremely unique landscape of Cappadocia resembles some scene in a Star Wars movie and yet you may be surprised to discover that no major commercial movies have been filmed there. It would be a perfect setting for movies such as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter series.
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Beautiful scenery, and our tour guide Mustafa was engaging interested and informative; booked through Turkish Heritage.
This is a really interesting museum….even our small children enjoyed the caves and investigating different areas. The Dark Church is worth paying extra for. All the information signs are in English (as well as other languages). Would recommend going.
Going to Goreme and seeing the Open Air Museum is like going to Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower. It is a no-brainier. You just have to do it.
The Open Air Museum is like nothing else in this world….it is very well maintained, and easy to do in two hours. The Audio tour is not as complete as one…
We explored it on an ATV and had a fantastic day! You can explore rock churches and little caves, and the rock formations are fantastic.
Wonderful hike through the valley. Wear good shoes and light clothing (if coming in the warmer seasons). Many photo ops!
We did, and were annoyed to find the staff providing audio guides walked away to enjoy breakfast instead of serving us. Some parts of the site were roped off due to landslips. This was not signposted or explained and was a disappointment. Do pay to enter the Dark Church. It is quiet and magnificent.
Very interesting but crowded with tour groups and we missed a few areas as a result.
If you are interested in history of christianism, this is a must-see location.
I wasn't well prepared for this cultural attraction so I've decided to rent tape recordings for 10 TRL from the ticket booth – that tells you something about each church. However, I was disappointed because the information given is really extremely brief so it doesn't help to…
Direkli Kilise – Church of Columns, ” Six Columns “
Direkli Kilise constructed between the years 976 and 1025, this is another of the rare churches whose construction date is known. The cruciform church has three apses. The central dome is supported by six columns , for which the church has been named (direk meaning column in Turkish).
Within the church can be found the cells in which the monks lived, as well as burial niches. The wall paintings consist of depictions of saints and angels, along with Biblical scenes.
We had a great time wandering around the underground city and were lucky that there were not many other people around at the time otherwise I can see how it could get very crowded very quickly. It's incredible to think that people actually lived down in this city (even just for short periods of time).