Rediscovered by Europeans in the 18th century, Göreme has been inhabited for millennia. The Romans used it as a necropolis and it was a very important Christian location in the early Middle Ages. The small city is just one example of many towns carved into fairy chimney rock formations in Cappadocia, central Turkey.
Beside its famous balloon rides, the city is home to the Göreme Open Air Museum, a collection of caves carved into the stone for hundreds of years. The ticket costs 30 Turkish Lira, plus 10 for the Dark Church.
Many churches were carved here because it was a pilgrimage place to Christians and a location for sacred burials, so it became a center for nuns and monks.
The Göreme Open Air Museum is basically an old early medieval city. It’s an intricate series of interconnected tunnels inside caves. I had never seen anything like it and was amazed to see the unique way of how people used to live inside the stone. They had everything they needed. It’s somewhat like an ant hill of people.
Many of the places there have amazing paintings that are very well preserved, but unfortunately -to me, at least, as a photographer- is that no photos are allowed inside most places, so I’m sorry to say that many of the beautiful sights are not here in this post.
St. Basil’s Chapel
The first church you visit is St. Basil’s. It was carved in the 11th century and is one of the simplest in the whole complex. Everything is sort of crooked and not the best example of craftsmanship.
You follow a map and basically visit the caves in a certain order. There are several entrances that seem nothing more than a regular house. You can see carvings in the walls that seem like shelves and pits that I assume were for lighting a fire. Most of these rooms had the ceiling completely black, most likely from the fires lit inside.
The Dark Church (Karanlık Kilise)
The Dark Church is considered the most beautiful and most famous cave church in all of Cappadocia. You have to pay an extra to go inside. This church was also built in the 11th century and has several columns and domes, all beautifully painted on blue backgrounds.
I was told that in the early 20th century locals used this church as a pigeon house.
St. Catherine’s Chapel
After visiting several rooms and absorbing the ancient history contained in them, we find a small bar inside one of the caves and stop for a drink. They even took credit cards.
Sandal Church
The Sandal Church is part of a monastic complex. The best preserved refectory in Cappadocia is inside this complex. The benches and tables are directly carved into stone.
Rose Valley
On a different day we went on a quad bike tour around Göreme. It was really fun and totally worth it. We rode to the Rose Valley, where these ruins are located.
Rose Valley location, just north of Göreme:
There are dozens of other churches in the area and even a whole underground city. Those who played Assassin‘s Creed Revelations know what I’m talking about.
Make sure you visit Göreme once in your life to experience with your own eyes the uniqueness of these constructions preserved for hundreds of years.