Sights in Cappadocia (Kapadokya)
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Göreme Open-Air Museum
One of Turkey's World Heritage sites, the Göreme Open-Air Museum is an essential stop on any Cappadocian itinerary and deserves a two-hour visit. First an important Byzantine monastic settlement that housed some 20 monks, then a pilgrimage site from the 17th century, the cluster of rock-cut churches, chapels and monasteries is 1km uphill from the centre of the village.
Follow the cobbled path until you reach Aziz Basil Şapeli, the chapel dedicated to Kayseri-born St Basil, one of Cappadocia's most important saints. The grate-covered holes in the floor were the graves of the chapel's architects and financiers; the small boxes contained less-affluent folks' bones. In the …
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Karanlık Kilise
The stunning fresco-filled Karanlık Kilise, is the most famous of the Open-Air Museum's churches. It took its name from the fact that it originally had very few windows. Luckily this lack of light preserved the vivid colour of the frescoes, which show, among other things, Christ as Pantocrator, Christ on the cross and the Betrayal by Judas. The church was restored at great expense, which partly explains the extra fee to visit it.
However, the charge is also intended to keep numbers down in an attempt to preserve the frescoes. It's worth every lira.
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Tokalı Kilise
When you exit the museum, don't forget to cross the road and visit the Tokalı Kilise , 50m back down the hill towards Göreme on the right. This is among the biggest and finest of the Göreme churches, with fabulous frescoes in the two main chambers, and two smaller chapels (one underground). Entry is via the 10th-century 'old' Tokalı Kilise, through the barrel-vaulted chamber covered with frescoes portraying the life of Christ.
The 'new' church, built less than a hundred years later, is also alive with frescoes on a similar theme.
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Mahperi Hunat Hatun Complex
Among Kayseri's distinctive features are several important building complexes that were founded by Seljuk queens and princesses, including the austere-looking Mahperi Hunat Hatun Complex, east of the citadel. It comprises the Mahperi Hunat Hatun Camii (1238), built by the wife of Alaattin Keykubat; the Hunat Hatun Medresesi (1237); and a hamam, which is still in use.
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Refectory
A few steps from the Yılanlı Kilise, don't miss the Refectory , with its long dining table and benches cut from the rock. At the end of the table is a trough in the floor that was probably used for pressing grapes. Attached to the refectory is a larder, where you can see storage shelves carved into the walls, and a kitchen. Another smaller, nameless church here retains a rock-cut iconostasis.
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Archaeological Museum
If you have half an hour to spare, wander through the park to the small Archaeological Museum, a minor magpie's nest featuring finds from nearby Kültepe (ancient Kaniş, the chief city of the Hatti people and the first Hittite capital). The largest city mound discovered in Anatolia, Kültepe yielded the area's oldest written documents. Many relate to commerce, such as the Assyrian clay tablets and envelopes from 1920 BC to 1840 BC. Other exhibits include a stunning sarcophagus illustrating Hercules' chores, a Bronze Age mother goddess idol, child mummies, Roman and Hellenistic jewellery, hieroglyphic inscriptions relating to King Tuthalia IV and a decapitated but imposing s…
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Roman Castle
Göreme village, set amid cones and pinnacles of volcanic tuff, is its own biggest attraction. At its centre is the so-called Roman Castle, a fairy chimney with a rock-cut Roman tomb; you can see the remains of the column tops on the temple façade. Some think Göreme may have been a burial ground for the Romans of Venasa (now Avanos).
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Temenni Wishing Hill
Head up Ahmet Refik Caddesi and turn right to the Temenni Wishing Hill, home to a saint's tomb, a café and 360-degree views over the town. Back on Ahmet Refik Caddesi, you may want to explore the town's unofficial and underwhelming 'underground city'. If you do so, you'll probably need to tip one of the guides who hang around here.
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Yılanlı Kilise
The Yılanlı Kilise has 11th-century frescoes on part of the vault. On the left wall, St George and St Theodore attack the dragon, while Constantine the Great and his mother Helena hold the True Cross. On the right wall, the naked St Onuphrius, a hermit from Egypt, hides his nudity behind a date palm frond.
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Citadel
Now acting as an overflow valve for the nearby bazaar, the monumental, black volcanic-stone walls of the citadel (hisar or kale) were constructed in the early 13th century, during the Seljuk sultan Alaattin Keykubat's reign. Kayseri saw its first castle in the 3rd century, under the Roman emperor Gordian III, and the Byzantine emperor Justinian made alterations 300 years later. The present building has been restored over the years – twice in the 15th century.
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Ulu Cami
Another mosque worth inspecting is Kayseri's Ulu Cami, immediately to the south. It was begun in 1142 by the Danışmend Turkish emirs and finished by the Seljuks in 1205. Despite all the 'restoration' over the centuries, it's still a good example of early Seljuk style.
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Çifte Medrese
Another striking monument is the Çifte Medrese (Twin Seminaries). These adjoining religious schools, set in Mimar Sinan Parkı north of Park Caddesi, were founded at the bequest of the Seljuk sultan Gıyasettin I Keyhüsrev and his sister Gevher Nesibe Sultan (1165–1204). The Museum of Medical History inside is located in the former theatre of one of the world's first medical training schools.
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Rahibeler Manastırı
Rahibeler Manastırı. Although this was originally several storeys high, today you can only see what is thought to be the large plain dining hall, with steps up to a small chapel (with unremarkable frescoes). To its right is the similar Monk's Monastery
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Kurşunlu Cami
A bit west of Cumhuriyet Meydanı stands the Ottoman-style Kurşunlu Cami. Also called the Ahmet Paşa Camii after its founder, it was completed in 1585 possibly following plans drawn up by the great Sinan (who was born in a nearby village).
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Döner Kümbet
Scattered about Kayseri are several conical Seljuk tombs dating from Seljuk times. Most famous is the so-called Döner Kümbet, about 600m southeast of the citadel along Talas Caddesi, but you'll spot many others as you walk around.
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El Nazar Kilise
On the road between Göreme and the Open-Air Museum, a sign points to the 10th-century El Nazar Kilise. Carved from a ubiquitous cone-like rock formation, the church has been restored and is considerably quieter than the Open-Air Museum, although its frescoes are in worse condition. It's a pretty 10-minute walk from the main road.
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Saklı Kilise
Back towards the Open-Air Museum, a yellow sign points to the Saklı Kilise (Hidden Church). When you reach the top of the hill, follow the track to the left and look out for steps leading downhill to the right.
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Aziz Basil Şapeli
Follow the cobbled path until you reach Aziz Basil Şapeli. It's rather dark inside because the main room is off to the left, away from the door. The grate-covered holes in the floor were graves.
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Tarihi Şehir Hamamı
Right by the main square is the Tarihi Şehir Hamamı, the hamam. Partly housed in what was once a small church, it offers mixed but respectable bathing.
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Çarıklı Kilise
The Çarıklı Kilise is named for the footprints marked in the floor opposite the doorway. One of the best frescoes (in the arch over the door to the left) shows the Betrayal by Judas.
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Ethnography Museum
Just southeast of the citadel is the 18th-century Güpgüpoğlu Konağı, a stone Ottoman mansion with beautiful wooden balconies and doorways. Inside, the Ethnography Museum is split between an exhibition of Ottoman craft and a mannequin-inhabited section, evoking how life was lived under the multicoloured beams.
Nearby is the stylish Atatürk Evi, a small, originally furnished Ottoman-era house where Atatürk stayed when he visited.
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Atatürk Evi
Also worth having a look at nearby is the modest but stylish Atatürk Evi, a small, originally furnished Ottoman-era house where Kemal Atatürk stayed when he visited Kayseri.
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Sahabiye Medresesi
Back towards the citadel, be sure to have a look at the Sahabiye Medresesi, an Islamic theological school which dates from 1268 and now functions as a book bazaar.
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Museum
The museum features some 10-million-year-old teeth from a forerunner of the elephant, unearthed at Mustafapaşa, but the overall collection is uninspiring.
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UFO Museum
ET says hoş geldiniz (welcome) at this UFO Museum that is as unassuming as a midnight visitor. Mostly consisting of magazine cuttings displayed haphazardly on cave walls, the exhibition ends with video footage of a possible seven-UFO sighting in Göreme.
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