Aşk Vadisi (Bağlıdere)

Love Valley, officially Bağlıdere Valley, is one of the best-known and most visited valleys around Göreme. According to Göreme Municipality, the valley begins at Örencik on the Göreme-Uçhisar road and ends on the Göreme-Avanos road. The length the municipality gives is four thousand nine hundred metres. In English sources it is called Love Valley, and in Turkish it is also popularly known as the Valley of Lovers. What sets the valley apart from the other valleys of Cappadocia is the height and slenderness of its fairy chimneys. Here, long, thin-trunked columns of rock with pointed tops rise in rows from the valley floor. According to the municipality, some rocks in the valley reach fifty metres in height. Seen from above, these columns look like a white forest in the middle of the green valley floor. These shapes are a product of the region's volcanic past. Ash and tuff erupted by Mount Hasan, Mount Erciyes and Göllüdağ built up a thick layer in the basin, and in places harder lavas covered it. Over millions of years wind, rain and floodwater wore away the soft tuff, deepening the valleys and leaving the columns standing. Columns that lose their hard caps slowly wear down and shrink over time. Two explanations circulate for the valley's name. The English Wikipedia retells a folk tale about the love between the children of two feuding families. The same source also mentions, as a more modern explanation, the heart-like shapes of some of the fairy chimneys. Either way, it is clear that the name comes more from the stories told about the place than from the rocky landscape itself. The name Bağlıdere, by contrast, recalls the farming life on the valley floor. There are vineyards and orchards in the valley, and the plant cover is clearly greener than on the dry slopes. Göreme Municipality stresses that the valley's vegetation and fairy chimneys are well worth seeing. Since the gardens may be private property, do not touch the trees or the cultivated plots. The valley is suitable for walking, and the municipality speaks of a five-kilometre walking trail. You can start from the Örencik side, that is from the Göreme-Uçhisar road, and walk down the valley to the Göreme-Avanos road. Most of the trail follows the valley floor, with sandy and stony stretches here and there. On a one-way walk you need to arrange a vehicle to get back to your starting point. The flat ground above the valley serves as a viewpoint. The municipality describes Love Valley as one of the most popular spots in Cappadocia for watching sunrise and sunset. Those who do not want to walk can still see the rows of fairy chimneys by looking down from the edge of the valley. In the mornings hot air balloons can be seen over the valley; Göreme Municipality notes that, when the weather allows, the balloons pass over it because of the view. That is why the early morning is the liveliest time, both for light and for scenery. At midday the light is harsh and there is little shade. For photographs, wide shots from above show the layout of the valley best, while frames taken from the valley floor show the height of the columns. Depending on the light, the long trunks turn from white to yellow and pink. At sunset the rock faces take on a warm colour. The region has a semi-arid climate, and in summer the valley floor heats up. It is wise to bring water, a hat and shoes with a non-slip sole. After rain the tuff can be slippery and soft, so avoid climbing steep slopes. Love Valley lies within the Göreme Historical National Park area, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia. Not writing on the rocks and not climbing the fairy chimneys are the simplest ways to protect this fragile heritage. The valley can be combined on the same day with other walking routes between Uçhisar and Göreme, such as Güvercinlik Valley.