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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interesting, self guided walk around a cave village. Interesting churches, mosques, dwellings. Also beautiful. Can do it in 1-2 hours. Less crowded by far than Goreme.
Amazing shapes of rocks ..let your imagination run wild and you can see the rocks take shape. If you are adventurous walk around, though be prepared to skid a bit if you are not surefooted. great photo opportunities with the rocks and fairy chimneys
Caves, homes, churches all carved out of rock. Amazing what people can do, when forced to survive. You get to walk around, out in the open, but it's a museum.
Not that the open air museum isn't fascinating, but if you've got a car, go to nearby Zelve.
We visited Zelve in late March and unlike the Goreme OAM, which was crawling with tourist buses, there was no one else there. Its a larger site and we had it all to ourselves.
You have to pay a visit to "Kapadokya Seramik! It has a great variety of Ceramics with motifs from all around Turkey and history. Both kitchen equipment and decorative stuff are available with wide range of prices. They welcome you with a pottery-making show and then let you give a try which is the most enjoyable part 🙂
You really can't see it any wear else, this place is thousands years old, mountains are curved in unique shapes due to nature effect
If you are visiting Istanbul don't miss go to goreme to see this unique beauty of Nature
It is very easy to go to goreme it is only 45 min away from Istanbul by Plan
It's a nice stroll from Goreme. If you like unique churches in caves from early Christian and Byzantine time, this is the place. But be sure to hire a guide or audio guide. There are some very well-preserved but extremely fragile frescos in these tiny, claustrophobia-inducing churches / caves. If that is not your thing, Selime Monastery is far more…
Even off season, the crowds at times were a real nuisance. However, it was all worth it. No "tour book" can do justice to this place.
My wife and I took the dolmus (mini-bus) from Goreme up to Uchisar to visit the castle, planning to hike back to Goreme through Pigeon Valley. It was a little tricky to find the footpath that lead down into the valley from Uchisar, but eventually a merchant pointed us in the right direction. The hiking in the valley was nice…
I probably would have done this place and the Underground City, then called it