RED TOUR-CLASSIC CAPPADOCIA TOUR 

Pick-up from hotel at 09: 30am.  In the morning, first meeting with the lunar landscape of Cappadocia: rock formations beyond belief in Devrent Valley. Visit to Pasabag“ fairy chimneys ” where the voice of wind mixes with the “ songs of faires ” near Zelve. Lunch in Avanos, centre of terra cotta work of art since 3000 BC. and a demonstration in a traditional pottery workshop. Afternoon, visit the famous Goreme Open Air Museum and see the best examples of Byzantine art in Cappadocia in rock – cut churches with frescoes and paintings ( 10th to 13th century ). Continue to panoramic view point Esentepe. With a spectacular view over Goreme, 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. Return to hotel at around 16:30pm.

URGUP CAPPADOCİA:

One of the most important centers in Cappadocia is Ürgüp, 20km to the east of Nevsehir. Like Göreme, Ürgüp also had different names in history; Osiana (Assiana) in the Byzantine Period, Bashisar during the Seljuk Peroid, Burgut Castle in the Ottoman Period and Ürgüp as of the early years of the Republic.

The earliest known settlement in the area was on the skirts of Mount Avla, to the north of Damsa river called as “Tomissos” in the antiquety. Though, the most important remains belonging to the later period are the Roman tombs found in the towns and villages near Ürgüp. Also an important religious center during the Byzantine Period, Ürgüp was a bishopric of the rock-cut churches and monasteries found in the villages, towns and valleys cut churches and monastreies found in the villages, towns and valleys around Ürgüp.

In the 11th century, Ürgüp was an important citadel connecting with Nigde and Konya, important towns of Seljuks. The two buildings from this period are the Altikapili (Six Gates) and Temenni Tepesi (Wish Hill) tombs found in the town center. The 13th century Altikapili tomb, housing the remains of a mother and her two daughters, has six sides each with an arched window and no roof. Although researchers think that this is unlikely, one of the two tombs on the Temenni Hill is believed to belong to Seljuk Sultan Rüknettin Kiliçarslan Iv, built by Vecihi Pasha in 1268 and is known as “Kiliçarsalan Tomb” by the locals. The other one is believed to belong to Alaaddin Keykubat III.

Ürgüp became a part of the Ottoman empire in 1515. It was the first time in the 18th century when Damat Ibrahim Pasha, the Ottoman Grand Vezier, established the governorship in Nevsehir (Muskara). Ürgüp was then administered by the governorship making Ürgüp secondary in importance.

In his history and geography book “Kamus-ül Alam” written between 1888 and 1890, Semseddin Sami mentions 70 mosques, 5 churches and 11

DEVRENT VALLEY:

Devrent Valley, which is also known as Imaginary Valley reveals many different rock formations. The small fairy chimneys in the valley form a lunar landscape, or moonscape, by their interesting look. The valley also has many animal shaped rocks. It looks like a sculpture zoo made by nature. Some of the most important, or the easiest seen animal shapes are camel, snake, seals, and dolphin. If you let your imagination run free you will find many others. There is even a rock pillar which looks like Virgin Mary.

ZELVE VALLEY:

The Zelve Valley, now known as the Zelve Open Air Museum, is among the earliest-settled and last-abandoned monastic valleys in Cappadocia. Zelve which once housed one of the largest communities in the region is an amazing cave town, honeycombed with dwellings, religious and secular chambers. The town people were forced at 1950's to evacuate the Valley in when life became dangerous due to risk of erosion. They left the site to set up a modern village, a little further on, to which they gave the name Yeni Zelve (New Zelve). Now old Zelve is a ghost town and the erosion still continues. The three valleys in the Zelve open air museum offer a heaven for the rock climbers. It takes at least two hours for a good trekker to walk through these valleys, which also house the oldest examples of Cappadocian architecture and religious paintings.

PAŞABAĞ:

The Paşabağı Valley (also called Monks Valley) between Çavuşin village and Zelve Open Air Museum is a fine example of Cappadocia’s moonscape topography, with fairy chimney pinnacles of tawny tufa topped by dark rock bombs. Paşabağı (Pah-shah-bah, “the Pasha’s Vineyard”) is a favored stop on guided tours of the region, so of course souvenir and snack stands have sprung up on the road to serve visitors. It’s easy to see the geology here. Paşabağı is a good lesson in stratification and differential erosion. First a thick layer of hot tufa volcanic ash was laid down, followed by a layer of darker, denser, hotter and thus harder rock laid on top. The upper layer was eroded, but the harder upper rock took longer to erode than the softer tufa beneath, so “caps” of the darker stone protected the tufa beneath like stone umbrellas, allowing the fairy chimneys to form. Wander among the fairy chimneys for a look at the caves, mostly human-carved, some for religious purposes.

GÖREME OPEN-AIR MUSEUM:

The most famous sight in Cappadocia Region is the Göreme Open Air-Museum at Göreme town. The museum holds the region's best collection of painted cave-churches. Medieval orthodox Christian monks (1000-1200 AD) carved the caves from the soft volcanic stone and decorated them with elaborate Byzantine frescoes. The valley, and other troglodyte ("cave-dweller") habitations in Cappadocia, may have been inhabited since Hittite times, but Göreme is known for its thousand-year-old churches.

Most of the frescoes in the churches have been damaged—many of them badly damaged—by wind, water, weather, earthquake, and shepherd boys who sought refuge in the caves and used the faces of the figures as targets for pebble attacks, having been taught that images were sinful. But the beauty of the churches and their decoration is still apparent. The best-preserved frescoes are in the Karanlık Kilise (Dark Church), which is subject to an additional admission fee.

The Tokalı Kilise (Buckle Church) is outside of the main valley enclosure, down the hill toward the town of Göreme a few steps, on the right-hand side. Don't miss it! The paintings are fine, and it's already included in your admission ticket to the Göreme Open-Air Museum.

UÇHİSAR:

Uçhisar is situated at the highest point in Cappadocia. This town has one of the largest rock formations around the region called Uçhisar Castle. The top of the Uçhisar 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. Most of the rooms, located on the north side of the castle are in use as pigeon houses (dovecuts) today. Farmers used these cave pigeon houses to collect the droppings of pigeons which is an excellent natural fertilizer for the orchards and vineyards.

There are also many other pigeon houses in Pigeon Valley (Guvercinlik Vadisi in Turkish) which connects Uchisar to Goreme. Most of these cave dwellings have been painted white to attract the birds and their valuable droppings.

GÜVERCİNLİK VALLEY:
You can watch the best examples of these dovecotes at the Pigeon Valley panoramic point. Since the general structure of the region is volcanic, wild pigeon fertilizers have been used a lot in the past for the enrichment of agricultural lands, and there are hundreds of pigeon houses in almost all of the Cappadocia valleys for its production.
SUNSET – RED PIT
The sunset point, which is known as the place where the Red Pit Valley hiking trail starts, is a point where you can watch the sunset with a unique view when you go about half an hour before sunset, where there are seating areas and cafes. This place is also a spot where you can watch the balloons that take off early in the morning.