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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I really enjoyed the museum and the Apple Church. However, after reading some comments i decided to pay the extra seven lira to visit the Dark Church and i must urgenyou to do the same. This was the best part of my trip. It is breathtaking and you will cherish the memory like i did.
Wild experience through the ancient cave dwellings. These people had the life and not to mention their commitment to detail….and Jesus! Beautiful churches everywhere whith pain staking details in decorating the walls of the churches.
It was very clean and well maintained. It also shows a big number of human-made rock-cut caves some of which were used as churches. You could feel your ancestors hard work and dedication to Christianity. This site is a must-see site when you are in Gorme.
We joined a tour program which took us to the pigeion valley as part of it. The guide gave us a very brief explanation why it is called as the pigeon valley. For me, it did not seem to be interesting as we could see small pigeon houses on the cliffs.
This is where all the tourists go, even if they're on a bus and only stop one day. Best to go around lunch time when it's less crowded, or late afternoon.
The tough part is getting a good map of the area. As you hike, there are a few maps out there that I wished the hotels would give out. The ones they do are very vague and easy to get lost. But note that although you can easily make a wrong turn and be unsure where you are, it is…
There is a lot of hiking to see the most interesting places. I did not buy extra entries to the Dark Church and other sites and I don't feel I needed to. There are many caves to see and I used a guide book rather than an audio guide and really enjoyed my visit. You want to take your time…
15tl entrance fee (april 2013).
This place is quite cool if you haven't been to cappadocia before, all the houses in the hills look amazing. A group of us went walking around the hills just opposite the entrance on the side of the road and found this area to be much better as you weren't restricted in where you could…
Great landscapes, stunning valley. I strongly recommend this 1h30-2h00 hike in the Rose valley. Do not forget your camera and of course comfortable shoes!
Kaymakli Underground City is impressive to think that people could dig and live in these caves.