Cappadocia & Central Anatolia - Discover Turkey: Experience the Best of Turkey - page 520

If You Like... Fairy Chimneys

Göreme's neighbouring villages are dotted with cave churches and castles, easily
reached on a scooter or by walking along the valleys of fantastic rock formations.
As well as the sights listed below, the Devrent Valley (2km [1.2mi] from Aktepe)
has some of Cappadocia's best-formed and most thickly clustered cones, offering an-
thropomorphic fun. Also known as Imagination Valley, it's south of Aktepe (near
Zelve) on the Avanos-Ürgüp road.

1 UÇHISAR CASTLE
(Uçhisar Kalesi; admission " 3; 8am-8.15pm) This tall, volcanic-rock outcrop riddled with
tunnels and windows is visible for miles around. Watching the sun set over the Rose
and Pigeon Valleys from here is a popular activity.

2 ÇAVUŞIN CHURCH
(Big Pigeon House Church; admission " 8; 8am-5pm) Just off the highway on Çavuşin's
northern edge, a rickety iron stairway climbs to Cappadocia's first post-iconoclastic
church, with some fine frescoes.

3 ÇAVUŞIN OLD VILLAGE RUINS
Above Çavuşin's main square, this steep and labyrinthine complex of abandoned
houses is cut into a rock face. The Church of John the Baptist , one of Cappadocia's
oldest churches, is at the top of the cliff path.

4 ZELVE OPEN-AIR MUSEUM
(admission " 8, parking " 2; 8am-7pm Apr-Oct, to 5pm Nov-Mar) The Çavuşin-Avanos road
passes a turn-off to these three valleys of abandoned homes and churches, a 9th- to
13th-century monastic retreat that was inhabited until 1952. En route to Zelve from the
turn-off, Paşabağı is a formerly monastic valley with mushroom-shaped fairy chim-
neys and a three-headed formation.

5 ORTAHISAR CASTLE
( 9am-6pm) Overlooking the farming village of Ortahisar, this 18m-high rock was
used as a fortress in Byzantine times.