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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A 3 level monastery, that honestly isn't anything special, but you may as well pull over if you're driving by. The best part about it was the Turkish ice cream!
It was so much fun exploring the underground city! We visited during an offpeak season so there were few tourists. But we can imagine if the place is crowded with tourists, it would be difficult even to walk around the underground city.
The kids really had so much fun!
From many vantage points in Goreme you can spot the pyramid shape of Uchisar Castle jutting up from the western horizon. Its steep sides appear daunting from a distance, prematurely giving the weak-kneed an excuse to avoid its summit. However, these two late 50ish desk jockeys reached the summit of the castle with relative ease, so don’t be easily discouraged…
Beautiful valley! The colors in the rocks are amazing. We rode horses through here, a great way to spend a couple of hours.
We also were able to see views of this valley from Sunset Point in Goreme and many other spots, just beautiful.
People carved out houses. It lies on high plateau that is pierced by volcanic peaks.
Very interesting to learn some of the history of the area
I think it is still worth a visit – especially for the very well perserved frescos in the dark church and some very interesting abstract frescos. However the overall setting gave me a theme park feel which is not as natural as I had expected. In comparison, the cave church of Selime Monastery is more interesting and the view is…
It has a little bit of everything in the area all in one place. Very beautiful! Crowded if you don't go early….
Crowded with the tour bus crowds, not worth it when there are are so many better, less crowded sights within easy walking distance (see Red and Rose Valleys).
It's a beautiful place and it's worth every minute, but I won't stick only to it. It's far more interesting to walk around and explore the valleys…