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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We drove to Derinkuyu from Goreme, almost 30km but it was worth the trip. The city is amazing and it's very deep. Make sure you get thick clothes as it gets colder as you go down. You don't need a guide because the coridors are well signaled.
When going on a guided tour, sometimes you get taken to places that you just have to say to yourself, "OMG, when will this ever get over with?!" NOT SO at the Ihlara Valley!!! this place was BEAUTIFUL!!! Tree-lined streams, rock caves and churches…It was an explorer's dream come true.
There are 3 things one must experience in Cappadocia: 1) stay in a cave hotel 2) visit the underground city 3) take the balloon tour. The tours can be done in one day. The balloon tour starts very early in the morning, pick up time is 4 am for the 5 am take off. After the balloon ride and breakfast…
There is one additional church that is located just outside the entrance to the park. It is the best cave church to see and is included in your admission ticket. The cave churches can get crowded so go early or late to the park to avoid large tour groups.
C1 ( 2013.08.13 )
There was a beautiful valley with stream, mysterious cave, and good for tracking. But there was too hot and dry to me. The valley's scene was good, but it wasn't satified me as I expected.
Don't miss this unique place in the world. I liked everything of this open museum. It is pure history, but at the same time you get to see flabbergasting views of the surrounding areas,
We arrived by walking from the Goreme-Urgup Road, but didn't hang around for long. There are far too many tour buses and crowds, touts and tourists shops etc for there to be any hope of enjoyment. And anyway there are much better examples of the fairy chimney landscape feature in the neighbourhood – in particuar near Goreme, in the Love…
We visited here as part of a tour which also included the Ilhara Valley and Derinkuyu which we really wanted to see but I have to say that the Selime Monastery was one of my favorite places. The caves here are far more impressive and complex than an of the other sites we visited. The rooms are interconnected and on…
Really this open air museum isn't that special compared to the rest of Cappadocia. If you have very little time, or if you especially are interested in the church frescoes, then it is definitely worth doing. But after spending a week in Cappadocia, the Open Air Museum just didn't seem that special.
This open air museum is lovely but I highly recommend having a guided tour to fully appreciate all that you see. Pay the extra few lire for the Dark Church. It has the best frescoes.