July 22, 2011

July 22nd

22 JUL : Upon your arrival you will be met at the buıs station for the tour. Start the day visiting Dervent Valley, also known as "Imagination Valley", this is the most surreal-looking landscape. 


Your next stop will be Pashabagi called also the Monks Valley because Christian hermits chose to locate hermit cells and churches in these three-headed pinnacles symbolic of the Holy Trinity, it's possible to see all the stages in the formation of fairy chimneys at this spot. 


Proceed to Avanos (Venessa) the pottery centre of Cappadocia, this village is set on the banks of the Kizilirmak/Red River. The river gets its name from the red clay it deposits. You can watch the potters at work using kick wheels, the technique which has remained unchanged for generations. Lunch.


 Continue to Göreme Open Air Museum. The world's most important Byzantine cave churches are found in these once remote valleys where monks and nuns pursued monastic life from the 3rd century on. Here you can see the best preserved Byzantine cave wall paintings and frescos from the Iconoclastic period through to the end of Seljuk rule. Icons with scenes from the Old Testament and the New Testament above portraits of Church Fathers and saints depict the structure of the Byzantine universe. Panoramic view point Esentepe. With a spectacular view over Göreme from Esentepe see the complete view of Goreme valley and Goreme village: fairy chimneys, rock formations and cave houses.



 End your day with Uchisar Castle. This tall rock, the highest point of the Goreme region, is a 25-floor beehive of cave rooms forming an underground-type city reaching into the sky. It was used as a citadel during Roman, Byzantine and Seljuk times. The view of the Cappadocian countryside from here is just brilliant. After the tour you will be transferred to your hotel. Accommodation in Cappadocia. (L)