WELCOME ΤΟCappadocia

Cavusin is a touristic and charming village and one of the oldest settlements of the region situated along the Goreme-Avanos road in Cappadocia. The whole site was inhabited until the 1950s, when locals were forced to abandon their homes, due to falling rocks and danger that came with it. Houses in the village are cut into rock formations and many of their insides have been eroded by natural forces, such as rain, wind, and earthquakes. You can climb to the top of the village through a twisting path that offers panoramic views of Red Valley and Uchisar Castle. There is also a church called Saint John the Baptist from the 5th century atop the village, the oldest among the churches you should visit in the village.

Goreme Open Air Museum hosts the most important Byzantine cave churches in the world where the monks and nuns pursued monastic life. The story of the valley started in the 4th century AD, at the early Christian periods. Monastery life denominated the valley when Kayseri Bishop of St. Basil came there to spread his teachings and raise students. The region which is called Goreme Ruins too, was the center of the education and training system until the 13th Century. This valley, in which almost every rock block has been carved and transformed into places of worship, entered the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.

Ihlara Valley is a fantastic canyon with a depth of about 100 meters and about 10 km. length that was formed by the volcanic activity from Mount Hasan and erosion by the Melendiz River hundred thousands of years ago. Ihlara Valley is not only a natural beauty, but also a rocky settlement area that hosted an extreme monastery life between 4th to 13th centuries D.C. and housed more than four thousand dwellings and a hundred hidden cave churches from the Byzantine period built by the Cappadocia Greeks. This local population was forced to leave the area and move to Greece in 1923 during the population exchange between Turkey and Greece.

The Red and Rose valley hike is found in the heart of the Göreme National Park in Cappadocia, about 15 minutes drive from the eponymous town; Göreme. Amazing rock formations in pinkish tones as well as ancient cave churches, make this Valley a very popular tourist destination. Throughout the Red Valley there are many unique rock formations as well as man-made dovecotes and rock-cut churches decorated with original frescoes, although partially worn away by rain the frescoes are still visible on the stone walls. Hiking trails begin in Cavusin, you can combine a walk through Red Valley with a visit to Rose Valley and continue hiking to a superb panorama viewpoint at the head of the valley.

Uchisar is situated at the highest point in Cappadocia, on the Nevsehir-Goreme road, just 5 km from Goreme. The top of the Uchisar Castle, provides a magnificent panorama of the surrounding area with Mount Erciyes in the distance. Many rooms hollowed out into the rock are connected to each other with stairs, tunnels and passages. At the entrances of the rooms, there are millstone doors, just like the ones in the underground settlements, used to control access to these places. Due to the erosion in places of this multi-leveled castle, it is unfortunately not possible to reach all the rooms. The castle has two different views: One side showing houses with amazing views from on high and other side having multiple levels of pigeon nests.