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 did two attempts at finding the Rose Valley, the first one from Goreme Open Air Museum and the second from the panorama view point. Although we had great hikes both times, we never really made it to the Rose Valley.
Not a great access, but a great view from the top! Nice "building"!
We went on this tour with my three boys who thoroughly enjoyed the day. Fascinating underground city, room after room, tunnel after tunnel, everything very clearly marked with green arrows to show us to keep going down (8 floors) and red arrows directing us to exit. Boys loved the very unusual experience. We
A steep walk in places but a marvellous place to visit and hard to imagine people living there. Plenty of churches to see but on the paintings , all the saints and biblical faces had been scratched out.
This open air museum is stunning and very impressive. Come to this place if you don't have time to explore the valleys around Goreme. Bring water, wear a good shoes and come early to avoid the crowds. We stayed at Aydinly Cave Hotel and they drove us free to this museum. I very much enjoyed the panoramic view on 20…
Very cool way to see the cave churches and learn a little about the people who used and made the caves. We were fine without the audio tour but if you are interested in architecture or religion it might be worthwhile. The caves stay cool no matter what the weather outside (always 15-16C apparently) so they are a nice way…
I have seen it from distance but also got real close. Countless photos, breathtaking view! If you understand a little about Geology you can travel back in time and picture volcanic eruptions blowing out massive pyroclastic flows, covered with magma and the resulting vulcanic rock. Different rates of erosion and weathering, by wind, water and temperature, have transformed the place…
Of all the places in Goreme this was probably one of the worst to visit. It is mainly just churches and churches and more churches. It was very crowded and it too forever to get into the church. In addition you could only stay in the church for 3 mins at a time.
Go to Selime Monastery or Ihlara Valley…
What a way to defend yourself, rather, have to virtually not bother to defend yourselves 🙂 Stunnning.
Maybe it would've been a more "WOW" experience if it was the first time we had seen cave dwellings. The day before, my dad and I had hiked Gomeda Valley, south of Urgup, which was amazing since there wasn't a single tourist in sight and we had the caves all to ourselves. Once we arrived at the Open Air Museum,…