The geological formation of Cappadocia is a natural wonder of our world and is the result of two contradictory natural forces. One of these forces is volcanic eruption in the region, which led to its coverage with lava, ashes, tuff, and volcanic residue. The second force is the territorial erosion that started after the volcanic build up was over.
          The Taurus Mountains of south Anatolia emerged at the Tertiary stage of geological development just like the European Alps (65-2 million years prior to our time). In this stage of "mountain building", deep crevasses and subsidence occurred in central Anatolia. The molten rock (magma) at the earth's core emerged to the surface through these crevasses and formed the volcanoes of Erciyes, Develi, Melendiz and Keçiboyduran. These volcanoes formed a volcano chain parallel to the Taurus Mountains and strong eruptions followed. Volcanic lava, ashes and tuff moved slowly towards the areas of subsidence in the region and covered the hills and valleys, turning the whole region into the huge plateau we see now.


          The causes of the erosion, which gave Cappadocia its present scenery, were the winds, the rivers, and the rains. Other factors were the climate, with its sharp temperature changes, and the melting snow of the mountains.
          The sharp changes in temperature created splits in the rocks, which were filled up with rainwater. As these water filled splits froze in winter, the rocks cracked and separated.
          But the main factors of erosion were the rain and the rivers. The Nevşehir and Damsa streams which flow into the Kızılırmak River played a major role in the formation of the famous Cappadocian valleys. In particular the area between Nevşehir, Avanos, and Ürgüp, where the thickness of the tuffs in the old valleys reached almost a hundred meters, was extremely affected by erosion. Rainwater filled up the crevasses on the surface of the plateau and gave birth to the streams and rivers. The volcanic residues and the eroded earth got carried away by the rivers, which sometimes cut the volcanic surface so sharply, that separate hills came into existence.


          Göreme
          Göreme has the most beautiful setting in Cappadocia, the hotels and pensions fade into the village and the village fades into the fairy chimneys, hills and valleys.
          Göreme has seen many changes particularly over the last 20 years as tourism has developed in the area. Nevertheless this small town still has a thriving community working the fields tucked away between the fairy chimneys and carrying on community seasonal activities such as the autumn harvest of pumpkin seeds and the preparation of pekmez (grape molasses) and village bread to see them through the long winter months.
          In Göreme you can see the old and new Turkey side by side and as you wander through the winding village streets you will probably be invited to take tea in one of the ancient cave houses still lived in by local families. Göreme has a friendly and relaxed atmosphere but there is cafe society and nightlife in the centre of the village for those who fancy something more lively.
          There is plenty to see in Göreme itself, and the famous Göreme Open Air Museum is just up the road, but Göreme also makes an ideal base from which to explore the rest of Cappadocia. Walking maps are available at ShoeString and just about every other form of transport can be hired (including camels for the really adventurous) for longer trips and tours.
         


          Çavuşin
          Çavuşin is a village about 4 kilometres from Göreme. The old village is largely deserted because the area has been plagued by rock falls. For this reason it is best to take a guide if you want to visit Çavuşin and to watch your step. At Çavuşin you can visit the Church of John the Baptist which probably dates from the 5th century with paintings from the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries.
          Quite nearby another church contains frescos commemorating the passage of Nicephoras Phocas (a Byzantine Emperor) through Cappadocia in 964 to 965 during his military campaign against Cilicia. Nicephoras may have visited the Church of John the Baptist which was an important centre for pilgrimage at that time.




          Uçhisar
          Uçhisar is a troglodyte village situated 4 km east of Göreme. It is famous for the huge rock formation once used as a fortification. This extraordinary rock is the highest peak in the region and offers a magnificent panoramic view of the whole of Cappadocia with Mt. Erciyes in the distance.
          The Citadel, carved out and tunnelled by the cave-dwellers of the past, and concealed from view and used for defence purposes, has now been destroyed by erosion, revealing the inner honeycombed architecture. A secret tunnel from the castle to the river bed 100 m below, hewn out in order to provide the water supply in the event of siege, has been recently discovered.
          In the Pigeon Valley in the south of Uçhisar there are the best example of the pigeon-houses in Cappadocia.


          Avanos
          Avanos is about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from Göreme. The town has a lively shopping center with all the usual amenities including a modern, tourist orientated hamam (Turkish Bath). A travelling market visits Avanos on Fridays.
          Starting just outside the shopping center the old village of Avanos winds up the hills leading away from the town and is a beautiful maze of old stone houses, some restored, some converted and some sadly abandoned to their fate. In some of the abandoned houses the features of traditional Ottoman architecture can be seen along with ancient decorations, motifs and murals.
          About 14 kilometers (9 miles) from Avanos is the underground city of Özkonak and the 13th century Seljuk caravaserai, Sarıhan (which is now a museum), is only about 3 kilometers (2 miles) away.
          The Kızılırmak (red) river separates Avanos from the rest of Cappadocia, and is the longest river in Turkey. It is by this river that the red pottery clay is found from which Avanos derives it's main livelihood and it's foremost claim to fame.
          Pottery has been produced in the Avanos area for several centuries and some of the techniques still used date back to Hittite times. Avanos is a mass of family run potteries, most of which are only too pleased to let visitors have a go on the potters wheel and give them a full history of the many and various pottery goods on offer. Avanos pots make wonderful souvenirs and are available at a wide range of prices from simple ashtrays and mugs to ornate plates and chess sets.
          Avanos is also famous for carpet weaving and, more unusually, for knitting. Hand knitted garments can be found on sale along with wool, needles and all the other equipment you might need if your holiday is incomplete without that familiar click click !
          Avanos really specializes in handicrafts, there is a permanent handicrafts bazaar and a three day Handicrafts Festival in late August.


          Urgup
          Ürgüp is about 7 kilometers from Göreme and is a modern town catering to the needs of tourists as well as a market town for the whole area on Saturdays.
          Ürgüp has grown enormously over the last twenty years or so in response to the needs of tourists, and is now a major shopping centre especially for carpets, jewelry, antiques, leather, ceramics, and hookahs. A permanent handicrafts market (the El Sanatlar) offers a variety of souvenirs and the Turkish Bath (hamam) is geared to the needs of tourists as well as locals. Ürgüp has some lively nightlife with a theatre, discos and bars offering Turkish evenings of food, drink and traditional dancing. Around Ürgüp the long standing Ottoman and Greek tradition of wine making continues. Many wine shops offer free wine testing all year round and a Wine Festival is held every year in the first week of June.
          The old dwellings of Ürgüp are now principally used for storage and stabling but there are still some strikingly beautiful houses of Greek and Ottoman origin to be found and in the streets winding away from the town centre many locals are living their lives in the old traditions.
          Ürgüp has a "Wishpoint" for those who require lasting benefits from their holiday. The route to the wishpoint is interesting in itself as it starts opposite the 13th century Kebir Camii (mosque) then follows a long tunnel to the top of Temenni, the hill of wishes, where you will find the Seljuk tomb of Kılıçarslan IV, a park where you can relax and admire the view and a medrese (Islamic college) which is now a cafe where you can refresh yourself and decide just what to spend your wish on.


          Zelve
          Zelve, which once housed one of the largest communities in the region is an amazing cave town, honeycombed with dwellings, religious and secular chambers. Here, the Christians and Moslems lived together in perfect harmony, until 1924.Then Christians had to leave the Valley because of the exchange of minorities between Greece and Turkey, and the Moslems were forced to evacuate the Valley in the 50's when life became dangerous due to risk of erosion. They left the site to set up a modern village, a little further on, to which they gave the name Yeni Zelve (New Zelve).Now old Zelve is a ghost town and the erosion still continues.
          The three valleys in the Zelve region are a paradise for the rock climbers. It takes at least two hours for a good trekker to walk through these valleys, which also house the oldest examples of Cappadocian architecture and religious paintings.
          Start your excursion by visiting the first valley on the right taking the stamps in the second valley, then turning right. While walking along the path, you will see on the right some paintings on the surface of the rock. These paintings on the surface of the rock. These paintings are what remain from the now totally collapsed Geyikli Kilise (the Church with the Deer) and afford examples of the oldest paintings displaying the principal religious symbols of Christianity, like the Cross, the deer and the fish.
          On entering the first valley you will see a rock-cut mosque on the left, with a lovely minaret obviously influenced by the bell-towers of the monasteries, (Byzantine ciboria) which consist of a baldachin of four collonettes supporting a pinnacle. You will then notice a monastery complex on the right resembling an upside down bowl cut of the rock. Immediately opposite, there is a rock-cut complex accessible by a metal ladder and connected to the second valley by a tunnel, but safety considerations make any attempt to go thought it inadvisable. On leaving the first valley you can enter the second valley by following the path in front of the Mosque.
          Before leaving this open-air museum, be sure to pay special attention to the rocks at the entrance of the third valley. Here you will find a rock-cut mill with a grindstone which remained in use until the 50's.Recently, its entrance has collapsed. Then follow the path to the Üzümlü Kilise (The Church with Grapes) named after the bunches of grapes, a symbol representing Christ himself, in a country famous for its Dionysiac rituals. Just next to Üzümlü Kilise is the Balıklı Kilise (The Church with Fishes).On the apse above you will be able to discern paintings of fish in a very faded red.
          The nearby Paşabağ area contains some of the most striking fairy chimneys in Cappadocia with twin and even triple rock caps.


          Mustafapaşa (Sinasos)
          In the strange and wonderful landscape of Cappadocia is the old, tranquil and picturesque town of Mustafapaşa 5 km from Ürgüp. Known formerly as Sinassos, this is a small town of 2500 inhabitants where originally Turks and Greeks lived side by side, and the sound of church bells mingled with the call to prayer from the mosque. The road to Mustafapaşa winds through a green valley watered by many tiny streams and is lined by rustling poplars. The old houses of the town nestle at the foot of Golgoli, a high hill of Cappadocia's yellow volcanic rock. As you enter the central square you encounter a magnificent building on the left. This is Sinassos Hotel, originally the private residence of an Anatolian Greek who owned shops in Istanbul's Fish Market and had this house built in 1892. Further along the road leading off the square is Şakir Paşa Medrese, an Ottoman period university college with an intricately carved portal now housing a traditional carpet centre. It was constructed in the 19th century by Mısırlı Şakir Paşa to educate the sons of Turkish families in the town. Adjoining the medrese are two houses with large courtyards dating from the beginning of this century. Over the gate of one is the date, 1900, and the name of the owner. Opposite Şakir Paşa Medrese is the Aşağı Mosque, formerly known as Camii Kebir, dating from 1600, although the portico and one minaret are recent additions. The old minaret is in Seljuk style, in interesting contrast to the new minaret.
          Mustafapaşa was given tourism site status in 1981, and the 93 traditional stone houses in the town dating from the late 19th and early 20th century are under conservation order and awaiting restoration. Passing several of these brings you to a second square, on which stands the Church of Constantine and Helen, one of the town's foremost monuments. It is dedicated to Constantine the Great and his empress, Helena. The frescos date from 1895 and were executed by a Greek artist named Kostis Meletyades who had been trained in Venice. Seated at tables on the pavement outside the cafés around the square, elderly men sip their tea as they play backgammon or watch the visitors to the town with curiosity and smile in greeting. Another old building on the square houses the local library, and next to that is the Taş Fırın bakery of Mustafapaşa whose bread is famed throughout Cappadocia. The town is surrounded by apricot, apple and pear orchards, and vineyards. Wine production is a major part of the local economy, and there are two wine factories with a total output of around 600 tons per year, all of which is sold to local hotels and restaurants. As well as wine, the small black grapes of the region are used to make pekmez, or grape treacle. When autumn comes the local women tuck up the legs of their baggy şalvar and set about the task of making pekmez for the winter. The technique is the same as that used by the Hittites thousands of years before! The grapes are heaped into shallow stone pits and the women tread barefoot on them to crush out the juice, which is then siphoned off into huge cauldrons placed on wood fires in the garden. The people of Mustafapaşa are friendly to strangers and always ready for a chat or to invite them into their homes. Two of the oldest inhabitants of the town, Şabat Topuz and Süleyman Temur, are delighted to find listeners for their ancient local tales. The houses built of the soft local stone are cool in summer and warm in winter. Some are now run as guest houses or small hotels. The hills around are filled with Byzantine rock churches, chapels and monasteries. In the Gömede valley are the churches of St. Steven and St. Basil, and 2 kilometres away is the Church of St. Nicholas. Another church of St. Basil in a nearby valley is a three story rock church whose interior is decorated with frescos depicting scenes from the bible. So if you plan a holiday in Cappadocia, do not miss visiting Mustafapaşa, or perhaps make it your base for touring this fascinating region of Central Turkey.


          Hacıbektaş
          Hacıbektaş 46 km from the city of Nevşehir might look at first sight no different from any other central Anatolian town. Indeed, if you are driving from Ankara, in your eagerness to see Cappadocia, the Ihlara Valley and the underground cities, you might easily pass through Hacıbektaş without even realising. But if you halt here before continuing on to Avanos, and spare an hour or so to visit the dervish dergâh (lodge) in the centre of the town, you will be able to make the acquaintance of the Alevi order, one of the heterodox branches of Islam.
          If your visit is timed for august, you will be able to watch the international commemoration ceremonies, and get an idea of the living traditions of the order's followers. Hacıbektaş is the sacred centre of Alevi Islam, and every year on 16, 17 and 18 August, tens of thousands of people flock here, not just from Turkey, but from Bulgaria, Albania and other Balkan countries.
          They come from communities which follow the teachings of Hacı Bektaş Veli, whose emphasis on peace and tolerance make his a universally relevant doctrine still widely popular today. During the three days of the ceremonies, people from far and wide: from the Deliorman villages of Bulgaria, Albania, and the Turkish provinces of Isparta, Tokat, Tunceli, Mersin, Antalya, and Erzincan come together here. Teams of Alevi semah dancers from different regions and in colourful costumes perform these ceremonial dances, each of which represents a separate thread in the rich cultural tapestry. The last representatives of the folk ministrel tradition take the stage, sharing it with modern-day theatre companies and music groups. Book and souvenir stands are set up, and for three days the small town is transformed by the festival mood. The life of Hacı Bektaş Veli is shrouded in mystery. All that is known are stories and legends passed down by word of mouth until they were written down several centuries after his death in a book entitled the Velayetname by a Bektaşi dervish. It is believed that Hacı Bektaş was descended from the Caliph Ali (Alevi means those who follow in the footsteps of Ali), and his date of birth is given variously as 1209 and 1247. The Velayetname tells us that Hacı Bektaş came from Nishapur in Turkistan, where he was the student of Lokman Perende, one of the followers of Ahmed Yesevi. He later migrated to Anatolia, where he settled in Sulucakarahöyük and began to spread the teachings of the Alevi mystic tradition in Turkey.
These teachings, which came to be known as Bektaşi, address the heart, and urge friendship and humility instead of strife. Much later his teachings were given systematic form by the 15th-16th century Bektaşi dervish Balım Sultan, and so the Bektaşi dervish order gained its body of tradition over the centuries.
          The dergâh or dervish lodge of Hacıbektaş became a museum in 1964. The entrance leads into a large courtyard, to the right of which once stood buildings accommodating the dervishes who worked the land and farm labourers employed by the lodge. These buildings were demolished when the lodge was being converted into a museum, and a wall built here. At the far end of the wall is the Üçler Fountain symbolising the Creator, Muhammed and Ali, a fundamental concept of Alevi faith. An open space on the left is like a small park, and originally there were stables for the horses of guests, barns and other outbuildings here. At the end of the courtyard a gate leads into a second courtyard, where there is a pool with a border of flowers. If it is not too crowded you can drink from the holy water of the Lion Fountain. The inscription over this fountain explains that the lion statue was brought from Egypt as a gift to the lodge in 1853. The second courtyard was the busiest part of the lodge, with the aşevi (refectory), pantry, hamam (baths), guest house, hall where the sacred services known as cem were held, and the pavilion where the lodge's leader, the Dedebaba, received guests. The final gateway leads into the third courtyard where the tomb of Hacı Bektaş Veli stands. On the right are the graves of dervishes belonging to the lodge, and in the small mausoleum just beyond lie Balım Sultan and Kalender Şah, two great figures of the order. The ancient wishing tree in front of the mausoleum is one of the places which visitors never fail to stop at. Before entering the mausoleum it is customary for visitors to embrace the cylindrical marble stone in the right-hand corner. If you can embrace it with two arms, then it is regarded as proof that your heart is clean and your intentions pure. The tomb was built by Şeyhsuvar Ali, lord of the Dulkadiroğulları principality, in 1519 following the death of Balım Sultan.
          The walls of the mausoleum are decorated with painted kalem işi, and there are examples of Bektaşi calligrapher. The door is original. The mausoleum of Hacı Bektaş Veli himself is known as Pir Evi, and at the entrance are the graves of the baba's of the order, dervishes who attained the highest degree. As you walk towards the Kırklar Meydanı hall, on the right you pass the çilehane, a cell where the dervishes spent time alone in the presence of God. If you wish to see inside you must bend almost double, and a few minutes alone in that dark cell gives you an impression at least of what it must have been like for the dervishes who came here. On the raised platform to the left of the Kırklar Meydanı are buried the descendants of Hacı Bektaş who sat on the ceremonial fleece of office and were known as çelebi or bel evlatları. In this hall where the dervishes performed the ceremonial dance known as the kırklar semahı, are now exhibited the twelve sided stones known as teslim taşı which the dervishes hung around their necks as symbols of the Bektaşi order, earrings worn by unmarried dervishes who devoted their lives to serving their lodge, handwriting of the Caliph Ali on gazelle skin, beautiful examples of calligraphy, torches, censers, and the Kırkbudak Candelabra which according to the Velayetname came from India. Finally a small door on the right leads into the tomb chamber of Hacı Bektaş Veli, where visitors perambulate three times around the sarcophagus before offering up a supplication to Hacı Bektaş Veli. Near the lodge is Dedebağı, an open park scattered with trees, where visitors who have come for the commemoration ceremonies gather to picnic and drink the ice cold spring water from a fountain known as Şekerpınar.
          Another important holy place is the Çilehane, a cave where Hacı Bektaş Veli spent forty days and nights alone in prayer to God. A narrow entrance leads into the cave, inside which is an aperture through which it is said that those who manage to pass have pure hearts, so many people can be seen attempting to do it. But it is quite a feat, not to be recommended for people with high blood pressure or heart complaints. Every evening in the amphitheatre next to the Çilehane you can listen to musicians playing wonderful traditional folk music and watch theatre plays. Monuments to the 16th century poet Pir Sultan Abdal and 14th century poet Yunus Emre are also near here. The town of Hacıbektaş continues to be a fount of the mystic concept which sees God in man, and it is this idea which brings people who believe in peace between men and forbearance towards others flocking here from all over the world.


          Underground City
          Nobody knows just how many underground sites there are in Cappadocia although the number has been estimated at around 300. Some say that there is one for every village and settlement in the region but certainly not all of the sites can be described as cities.
          This subterranean way of life resulted from several different factors. The dramatic landscape of Cappadocia is formed from tufaceous rock which is easy to work (and actually gets easier the deeper you go) but which dries to a hard surface resistant enough to allow the excavation of wide rooms with horizontal ceilings. Trees producing wood suitable for building use are scarce in Cappadocia (and apparently always have been) so even the surface dwellings are barrel vaulted using squared tufaceous stone.
          This negative building culture, making use of existing formations rather than creating specialist building materials, can be found throughout the world but is particularly strong in the Mediterranean region. Cappadocia`s underground cities are however unique in their range, their complexity, their variety and possibly in the time periods in which they were developed.
          The first mention of these subterranean sites occurs in the works of Xenophon written around 400 BC. Xenophon was a Greek mercenary who took charge of the Ten Thousand after the death of Cyrus, marching across Cappadocia with them:
          Some authorities suggest that the underground cities were created during the earlier period, as storage areas, by the Hittites and were much later extended and brought into use as refuges for Christians persecuted by the Romans. Others maintain that the cities were created somewhat later, by the Phrygians, as a line of defense against the Assyrians. The most commonly held view is that the cities were excavated during Roman and/or Byzantine times. Certainly during these years the region was often beset by internal strife in the form of persecutions of (and by) local Christian communities, and external attacks by the Arabs. After the region was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, in the 14th Century, the external threat abated, the Byzantines were forced to leave the area and, with the outbreak of peace, the abandonment of the underground cities began.
          It is unlikely that the underground cities were ever intended as permanent, or even long stay, settlements, but they were clearly built to withstand attack and could support large numbers of people and their domestic animals, for long periods of time. The urban organization was very complex, and there was probably always work in progress. Extensive networks of passages, tunnels, stepped pits and inclined corridors link family rooms and communal spaces where people would meet, work and worship. The cities were complete with wells, chimneys for air circulation, niches for oil lamps, stores, water tanks, stables and areas where the dead could be placed until such time as conditions on the surface would allow their proper disposal. Most importantly, carefully balanced moving stone doors, resembling mill stones, were devised to quickly block the corridors in the event of an attack. Of course, these doors operated from one side only!

          Kaymakli underground city

          Kaymakli underground city is built under the hill known as the Citadel of Kaymakli, in the centre of the town 19km from Nevsehir, on the Nevsehir - Nigde road. It was opened to visitors in 1964. In the village of Kaymakli, the ancient name of which was Enegup, the people have constructed their houses around nearly one hundred tunnels of the underground city. The inhabitants of the region still use the most convenient places in the tunnels as cellars, storage areas and stables, which they access through their courtyards.
          Kaymakli Underground City is different from Derinkuyu Underground City in terms of both form and organization. The passages are low, narrow and sloping. Only 4 floors are open to the public, in which the spaces are organized around the ventilation shafts. On the first floor of this underground city is the stable. The small size of this area suggests that there could be other stables in sections that have not yet been opened. The passage to the left of the stable contains a millstone door and leads into the church. To the right of the corridor are rooms hollowed out as living areas. The church of the 2nd floor has a single nave and two apses. In front of the apses is a baptism stone, and on the sirdes are seating platforms. The graves on this floor are located next to the church which supports the idea that these graves belonged to religious people. There are also some living areas on this floor.
          The most important areas of the underground city are on the 3rd floor. Besides numerous storage places, wineries and kitchen, the block of andesite with relief-texture found on this floor is very interesting. Recent research has proved that this stone was used as a melting pot for copper. The stone was not brought here from outside but was part of the andesite layer unearthened while hollowing. To be able to use it as a melting pot, 57 holes were carved on the surface of the stone. The copper ore , about 10 cm in length, would be put into one of those holes and would be hammered using a hard piece of rock. This technique has been known since the Prehistoric Periods. The copper brought to Kaymakli Underground City was probably dug from a quarry between Aksaray and Nevsehir. (The same quarry was also used by the people of Asiklihöyük, the oldest known settlement in Cappadocia Region.) The fact that there are a lot of storage rooms and places to put earthenware jars in the wineries on the 4th floor indicates that the people living in this underground city were economically stable. Even though the whole city has not been completely opened, and since only 4 floors have been uncovered, it is certain that Kaymakli is one of the largest underground settlements in the region. The number of the storage rooms in such a small area supports the idea that a great number of people resided here.

          Derinkuyu underground city
          Derinkuyu is situated 29km from Nevsehir, on the road to Nigde. The city is approximately 85m deep. It contains all the usual rooms found in an underground city (stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, churches, wineries etc.). Apart from these, a large room with a barrel vaulted ceiling on the second floor was a missionary school, the rooms to the left being study rooms.
          From the 3rd and 4th floors onwards the descent is by way of vertical staircases which lead to a cruciform plan church on the lowest floor. The 55m deep ventilation shaft was also used as a well. Not every floorwas provided with a well, however, and some wells were not connected with the surface in order to protect the dwellers from poisoning during raids. Derinkuyu Underground City was opened to visitors in 1965, but so far only 10% can be visited.


          Ihlara Valley
          Ihlara Valley, near Mount Hasan (one of the three volcanoes of Cappadocia) is a canyon with a depth of approximately 100m and was formed by the Melendiz River thousands of years ago. It begins at Ihlara village and ends at the village of Selime after making 26 bends along 14 kilometers.
          It is believed that the valley housed more than four thousand dwellings and a hundred churches. It is estimated that around eighty thousand people once lived here.
          It is very pleasant to walk through the Ihlara valley by the vineyards, poplars and pistachio trees to the soothing sound if the rushing water and surrounded by a rich wildlife of lizards, frogs, butterflies, birds and sometimes eagles and other mammals like lambs and sheep.
          In the middle of the Ihlara valley in Belisırma village there are good restaurants to be found.
          The churches in the Valley can be divided into two groups: the Ihlara group, including the Ağaçaltı, Pürenli Seki, Kokar, Eğritaş and Yılanlı churches that reflect Oriental influences, and the Belisırma group, comprising Sümbüllü Church and others with Byzantine characteristics.
          The churches of the Ihlara group display scenes dissimilar to the scenes depicted in other Cappadocian churches. In fact, they are reminiscent of the early churches of Syria and the Coptic churches of Egypt. The texts in Ihlara group churches are unusually long. In this group special emphasis was laid upon Satan, and women as the source of evil.
          There are many churches in the valley. However, relying on the yet undisputed information given in Mme. and M. Thierry's book, we have chosen 11 of them for you to visit.
          Important Churches from Ihlara Village to Belisırma Village
          Eğritaş Kilise (Church with Crooked Stone)
          Kokar Kilise (Church of Sweet Smell)
          Pürenli Seki Kilisesi (Church with the Terrace)
          Ağaçaltı Kilise (Church under the Tree)
          Sümbüllü Kilise (Hyacinth Church)
          Yılanlı Kilise (Church with Snake)
          Karagedik Kilise (Church with Black Collar)
          Kırk Damaltı Kilisesi (Church of St. George)
          Bahattin Kilise (Bahattin's Granary Church)
          Direkli Kilise (Pillard Church)
          Ala Kilise (Mottled Church)

 
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