Underground City Tour

Información

Start this fantastic tour visiting the Pigeon Valley that has become quite popular with hikers. It is known by many names (Valley of the Pigeon Lofts, Dovecote Valley, and Pigeon Valley) but they all refer to the thousands of pigeon houses that have been carved into the soft tufa since ancient times. You can admire the multi-coloured rock formations of the famous Pigeon Valley, and Uchisar’s picturesque fairy chimneys. Following this the tour moves on to a panoramic view of Goreme. This valley was created from volcanic rocks which erosion over time has helped to create unique chimney-shaped rocks; here there is an ideal photo opportunity with views over Sword, Love and Red Valleys.

Next the tour visits Goreme Open Air Museum where you can see several churches built into caves by Christians between the 10th and 13th centuries with a chance to visit several different churches and chapels including Sakli Church, Kilislar and St Basil Churches. Moving on to Cavusin village, here there is a cave church considered one of the oldest ones in the area dating back to the 5th century AD. The next stop is in Pasabag where you can see mushroom-like fairy-chimneys with multiple caps and stems situated in the middle of a vineyard and then enjoy a walk through Pasabaglar, once known as the Valley of Monks.

After Cavusin we go to Avanos, a small town known for its ceramics and the Red River which runs through its’ centre and provides the clay used to make these ceramics. Lunch is taken here and we also visit a ceramics workshop to observe the pottery being made and decorated. After lunch we will be able to see more strangely shaped rock chimneys in Devrent and Zelve Valley before completing the tour with a visit to the spectacular Kaymakli Underground City.

Even though the whole city has not been completely opened, and since only 4 floors have been uncovered, it is certain that Kaymakli is one of the largest underground settlements in the region. The houses in the village are constructed around the nearly one hundred tunnels of the underground city. These are still used today as storage areas, stables, and cellars; of the four floors open to tourists, each space is organised around ventilation shafts. The number of the storage rooms in such a small area supports the idea that a great number of people resided here. Archaeologists think that this could have been up to 3500 people.

Meeting/pick-up point: Hotel pick-up.
Duration:
Start/opening time: At 9am.
End/closing time: At 5pm.
Languages: English, German ,Russian, Italian, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Dutch.