Destinations & Itinerary

Devrent Valley: This valley is situated between Avanos, Zelve and Urgup, and is called "pink valley" because of the color of its soil. The new road that cuts the valley enables the visitors reach its beauties. This valley is called "Devrent" in vernacular, and is very appropriate for examining rock formations and the fairy chimneys. This valley has never been inhabited and we see neither houses nor churches here. The visitors should leave the main road and climb the slopes to enjoy the fairy chimneys with different pes.

Pasabaglari Valley: Formerly known as the "Monks' Valley" (Rahipler Vadisi), Pasabagi  is situated about 1km from the Goreme - Avanos road.  Many fairy chimneys with multiple stems and caps some housing chapels and living areas can be found here, this style being unique to this area. A chapel dedicated to St. Simeon, and a hermit's shelter is built into one such fairy chimney with three heads. The entrance of the cell, which can be reached with a chimney like narrow tunnel, is decorated with antithetical crosses. Inside the shelter are an oven, living and sleeping areas and small windows to let the sunlight in. St. Simeon was living in seclusion near Aleppo in the 5th century, when rumours that he worked miracles started to spread.  Disturbed by all the attention, he began to live at the top of a 2m high column, and later moved to one 15m in height.  From there he only descended occasionally to get the food and drink brought by his disciples. The hermits of Cappadocia distanced themselves from the world by cutting into fairy chimneys rather than living on top of columns. They hollowed out the chimneys from bottom to top creating rooms 10 - 15m high. They lay on beds made from rock.

Goreme Open Air Museum: By the end of the 2nd century a large Christian community had formed in Cappadocia.  It is known that there were two bishoprics at that time; one in Kayseri, which, for a long time, continued to be a Christian centre in the region and the other in Malatya. In the 3rd century, priests with good character changed the region into a lively centre of Christian activity. In the 4th century Cappadocia became known as the land of the three saints; St. Basil the Great, Bishop of Kayseri; his brother St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. George of Nazianzus.  These three men created a new unity in Christian thought, and many of St. Basil's thoughts and actions are still important today.  An example of his doctrine is the advice to Christian with one piece of bread in a famine.  He said that the Christians should give half of the bread to a fellow believer and trust in God to take care of him. St. Basil founded small, secluded settlements not too far away from villages and towns. Daily worship was carried out under the supervision of a preacher. These groups were not; however, privileged groups separated from the community like similar communities in Egypt and Syria. St. Basil is important in that he introduced worship within the community.  He was not at all bigoted.

Avanos Village: Is set on the banks of the Kizilirmak, the Red River, which gets its name from the clay that it deposits. This clay has provided Avanos with pottery for centuries and the town is still dominated by this industry despite the inroads that tourism has made in the area. The main street has numerous shops and workshops selling plain and decorated pots and plates and you can watch the potters at work using kick wheels, the design of which has remained unchanged for generations. Many of the workshops will encourage you to have a go yourself. It's harder than it looks.

Uchisar Castle: Is situated at the highest point in the region. It is not known when Uchisar was first inhabited , however, in style, it  resembles Ortahisar and the Selime Kalesi (castle) in the Ihlara Region. The top of the citadel provides a magnificent panorama of the surrounding area. 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 fairy chimneys to the west, east and north of Uchisar were hollowed out and used as graves during the Roman period. Inside these rock cut tombs, the entrances of which generally face west, are klines or stone slabs on which the bodies were laid. Many rock cut churches have been discovered not only on the skirts of  the castle but also inside it.

Piegon Valley: Contains numerous pigeon houses. In this valley pigeons were traines to deliver messages to towns throughout Central Cappadocia and were essential aid to communication. Also people used the droppings of the pigeons as a guano.


Please take note of the following:
* 30% discount for children below the age 7, free for the ages 0-2
* The order of visiting sights, may vary slightly from time to time
* You are kindly requested to present your self at the pick up point 15 minutes prior the pre advised pick up time
* Smoking is not permitted but all tours make frequent stops

What's Included: 
* Pick up and drop off at your Hotel
* Transportation by air-conditioned non-smoking tour coaches
* Professional Guide licensed by the Ministry of Tourism
* All entrance fees to the archaeological sites and museums, parking and road tolls
* Lunch at local restaurant (drinks extra)
* Local taxes