ANCIENT CITIES OF CAPPADOCIA

ZELVE    A strong contender for favorite place status, the Zelve monastery complex is situated about 10 km out from Goreme on the Avanos  road. Lacking the elaborate frescoes of Goreme and other sites there's still plenty here to see. The series of valleys can provide you with a couple of hours walking, climbing and crawling about and in addition to the marked highlights (the Fish and Grape churches) there are innumerable rooms and passages to look at.

     Zelve was inhabited until quite recently but you can almost see the place crumbling before your very eyes. There's probably an element of risk involved in exploring too enthusiastically but a guide should be able to balance the thrill of stumbling through pitch black tunnels by torchlight with an element of safety.

   It's probably a good idea to make the most of the place while there's still something to see. There seems little chance of a restoration scheme along the lines of that in place at Goreme and even if tourists were to stop visiting today natural erosion processes do their damage every winter.

IHLARA VALLEY    The Ihlara valley is very nice. Removed a little from the rest of the Cappadocian sites it can be a little tricky to get to but it's worth a full day if you can spare one. The gorge is 16 km long and both sides are lined with rock carved churches, about 100 in all. You can look at the more important of these in a couple of hours but it's very pleasant to spend an afternoon following the river down the valley and exploring on your own.

    The climb down to and especially up from the gorge can be demanding and probably shouldn't be attempted if you're feeling frail. To make the most of your time here a full day and a picnic is a good idea and will repay the effort in terms of a relaxed days pottering about admiring the churches and the valley's beautiful scenery.

UNDERGROUND CITIES     The underground cities of Cappadocia are worthy of a visit. Let's take Derinkuyu for example. The one time home of up to 20,000 people, it's 8 levels descend into the Anatolian plateau 50 kms south of Goreme. Stop and think about that for a while. A large, market town sized community digging a settlement out to guarantee themselves a degree of protection.

     There are 8 floors of tunnels but 4 of them are open to the visitors and this is enough to give you an idea of the sensation of living in a labyrinth like this. The ventilation shafts, circular and descending from the surface to the lower levels, bring home the scale of the enterprise while the massive circular doors - which were rolled across the passages and sealed from the inside - remind you of the motivation for moving underground in the first place.

AVANOS  The old city of Avanos overlooks the longest river the Turkey, the Kızılırmak (Red River), which also separates it from the rest of Cappadocia. Located 18 km north of Nevsehir, the ancient name of this city used to be Venessa. The most famous historical feature of Avanos, which is still relevant and very visible today, is its production of earthenware pottery. The ceramic trade in this district and its countless pottery factories date right back to the Hittites, and the ceramic clay from the red silt of the Kızılırmak has always been used. It is a popular destination because of its attractive old town with cobbled streets, and superb views over the river.

MUSTAFAPASA   It is located 6 km south of Urgup district. The Gomede Valley which is located at the west of Mustafapasa is a miniature similitude of the Ihlara Valley from the geomorphologic aspect. The valley hosts the rock carved churches, shelters and a creek flowing through the valley as is at the Ihlara valley.

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