We visit a strange and, in a way, suggestive landscape. We are located southeast of Ankara, about four hours by car. The route will begin in the city of Nevsehir, the provincial capital, which is the gateway to the Cappadocia region. At the top of the town is the Seljuk Castle and the Kursunlu Mosque. This mosque is part of a complex of buildings that includes a theological school, a hospice and a library. An ancient inscription is still preserved in the ablution fountain in the garden. Many years ago, the volcanoes of Mount Erciyes (3,916 meters above sea level) and Hasan (3,268) covered the area with lava and ash. The wind and rain have eroded the rocks and a spectacular landscape of conical rocks of various colors has been created,

Urgüp, the second city we will visit, is a tourist center at the foot of a rock that is the perfect place to stay. In Urgüp, you can still see how the people lived in the houses dug under the rock. One of the main attractions is the visit to the shops and stalls where you can buy carpets and kilims. For its part, Avanos has an old part that takes us back to other times, with streets full of shops, bars and some Turkish baths by the river. Some of the purchases that can be made in this town are ceramic and pottery items. The tourist infrastructure in the area is very basic, so even the hotels that claim to be the best in the area are far from standards.

Apart from these towns, the region offers a number of places that have been turned into open-air museums. The Góreme National Park was known in Roman times as Cappadocia. During Byzantine times, chapels and monasteries were dug into the rock and echoes of them still remain in the landscape. The name of Góreme is associated with the old houses, which have become a tourist attraction. The open-air museum is a monastic complex of frescoed churches and chapels and is one of the most visited sites in the area. Almost all the chapels are dated from the 10th to the 13th centuries and many of them have a cross plan with a central dome supported by four columns. Among these chapels the church of Elmali stands out, the smallest and most recent of the group, as well as the Yilanli, Barbara and Carikli churches.

Uçhisar, our next step, is a pierced mountain that was formerly a town in Byzantine and Turkish times. Today, however, it is abandoned. EnÇavusin, north of Góreme, you can see a triple apse church and the monastery of San Juan Bautista. In the town you can also see uninhabited houses in the rock, chapels and churches. From here we will head towards Zelve, a place where it is dangerous to visit the churches, as the soil has become very unstable over time due to erosion.

Zelve is also considered an open-air museum. Its extension is very large. The town was depopulated at the beginning of the 20th century, due to an earthquake. In the same way, you can visit numerous underground settlements in the area. Of all of them Kaimakli stands out, on the road from Nevsehir to Derinkiyu. The origin of these settlements excavated in the tuff manually is difficult to determine, although it is known that they had a great development between the 6th and 10th centuries after Christ, when they were a refuge for Christian peoples at the time of the Persian and Arab invasions . Kaimakli has eight known levels and a depth of 45 meters. Half can be visited.

Relating the beauty of these landscapes that were abandoned is quite complex. A visit allows us to get just an idea of ​​those moments in which they lived their splendor. Today they are one of the most interesting tourist attractions in central Turkey, which in the future is very likely to become one of the favorite destinations for many of those who today dream of traveling whenever possible to the country. between Europe and Asia.

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