Another famous ancient multi-level underground city is located in Derinkuyu (🎫 100 TRY). It has cavernous rooms spread on seven levels reached by long skinny tunnels extending to a depth of approximately 85 meters. It is large enough to have sheltered as many as 20,000 people together...
Just a few kilometers from Ihlara Valley lies the little town of Güzelyurt, dramatically set beneath the snow-capped summit of Hasan Dağı. We came here for its stone houses, refuge caves, and underground city. It was a prosperous Ottoman-Greek town specializing in farming and goldsmithing...
We parked in the southwest Cappadocia next to a canyon rimmed by high cliffs that hide rock-cut churches. The 15 km long and up to 150 m deep canyon was formed in prehistoric times by the Melendiz River. From the 7th century AD, the valley was settled by Byzantine monks who dug their...
We drove through the stark and stunning high-altitude Aladağlar national park, featuring glacial lakes, waterfalls, and wildlife. Its four major peaks, all above 3000m, draw trekkers and climbers, while less ambitious nature-lovers like us can hike through its valleys. We made short two...