Goreme, a national park in Turkey’s Cappadocia region, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its unique geological formations, including fairy chimneys. The park also features early Christian churches with elaborate frescoes and underground cave dwellings. Goreme is easily accessible by bus from Istanbul and offers a range of tourist activities, including hot air balloon rides.
Goreme is a national park in Türkiye. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has been since 1985. Goreme is the name of the city in the Cappadocia region of Turkey and contains a number of amazing geological formations.
Mount Erciyes, a nearby volcano, erupted thousands of years ago and covered approximately 8,000 square miles (about 20,700 square km) of lava, which eventually formed beautiful rock formations over the entire area. Most of the rock has been eroded over time, leaving only the hardest caps to survive, creating the structures that are now called fairy chimneys.
In the 4th century Goreme began to be settled by small Christian communities. They discovered that the soft rock could be easily carved, and so they excavated churches, shrines, houses, monasteries and cells. Previously built structures, excavated during the Iconoclast period, were sparsely decorated, but later construction had elaborate frescoes.
Goreme Churches are one of its three attractions, more or less unique in the world. Tokali Kilise is the largest of the Goreme Churches, dating back to around the 9th century. The frescoes in this church are stunning, with vibrant use of color and beautiful depictions of various saints, apostles, and scenes showing the life of Jesus Christ.
Barbara Kilise is a church in Goreme which celebrates the life of Saint Barbara. She was an Egyptian saint, who practiced Christianity despite being imprisoned by her father to try to prevent her from believing. When she found out, she tortured and killed her. Yilani Kilise celebrates St. George slaying the dragon and also contains depictions of Emperor Constantine. Other churches in Goreme include the Karanlik Kilise, the Elmali Kilise and the Carikli Kilise.
The tunnels and underground cave dwellings are another major attraction in Goreme. The oldest evidence of cave settlements in this region dates back to the 4th century BC, when Xenophon the Greek wrote of seeing underground deposits while passing through Cappadocia on the way to Persia. Caves were favored as dwellings also for the protection they offered from bad weather. In the 13th century, Skutariotes the Byzantine wrote of the balanced temperatures that the houses in Goreme offered throughout the year.
Goreme’s underground dwellings are unique in the world in part due to the unique fairy chimneys that dot the landscape. This enabled housing to be built not only deep below the surface, but well above the base level of the surrounding lowlands. This has led to a kind of otherworldly architecture, where natural skyscrapers seem to sprout hundreds of feet in the air.
Goreme is one of western Turkey’s top tourist attractions and contains enough notable sights to keep almost anyone busy for days on end. There’s something for every taste, with remarkable natural formations offering stark beauty to those with a love of the natural world, beautifully ornate early Christian churches ensuring religious tranquility and awe inspiring to those of a more spiritual bent, and unique abodes show one of the most intriguing ways humans can live for those interested in archaeological sites.
The whole site is easy to reach, with buses running regularly from Istanbul and there is a good tourist infrastructure throughout. The trails cross the valley and are free for all visitors. Maps are available in most hotels and show a variety of routes to take through the valley. Hot air balloon rides are also offered by a number of providers and last around 45 minutes, taking you across the valley as the wind blows.
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