Mustafapaşa (Sinasos)

Mustafapaşa is a stone town about five kilometres south of Ürgüp, built on the slopes of the surrounding hills. The settlement's old name is Sinasos, and this name appears in documents from records dated 1476 onwards. With its cut-stone mansions from the 19th century, its fountains and narrow streets, the town is one of the places that shows the civil architecture of Cappadocia most completely. It was declared a tourism centre and placed under protection in 1981. In 2021 the United Nations World Tourism Organization selected Mustafapaşa as one of the best tourism villages in the world. In the 19th century Sinasos, whose population was mostly Orthodox Greeks, was one of the best known and wealthiest settlements in Cappadocia. Because farmland was limited, many of the men spent most of the year working away from the town. Some Sinasos merchants who went to Istanbul grew rich by importing and selling caviar from Russia, and others by supplying provisions to ships. This income flowed back to the town and changed its appearance through large mansions, schools and public buildings. In this period the town was referred to with epithets such as "Pearl of the East". The mansions are usually two storeys high, built of cut stone, and some are arranged around a courtyard. Decorated balconies, stone door frames and arched windows stand out on the facades. Sources write that the mansions were built by stonemasons of various origins who belonged to the Ürgüp guild. Many houses have wall paintings inside; some of them depict events and important figures of the period. Of the mansions, whose number is thought to have been around 700 at the time of the population exchange, sources put the number still standing today at around a hundred. As you walk through the town, pay special attention to the doors. Within the cut-stone facades you see round or segmental arched openings, stone jambs and wooden doors that are mostly double-leaved. The leaves are reinforced with iron hinges, knockers and nails. Some lintels carry dates and geometric or floral ornaments. These doors are regarded as an important part of the settlement's architectural identity. The town takes its name from Seyyid Mustafa Paşa, who is said to have largely solved the village's water problem by having fountains built. Two fountain inscriptions bearing the paşa's name still survive. There are twelve fountains in Mustafapaşa in total; the oldest is the Gazi Sokak Fountain, dated to the late 16th century. The cut-stone Maraşoğlu Bridge, which links two neighbourhoods, is also among the village's old structures. The Mehmet Şakir Paşa Madrasa, founded in 1899, is one of the town's most important historic buildings and is used today by Cappadocia University. The event that changed the town's history was the Turkish-Greek population exchange carried out under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. The Greek inhabitants of Sinasos left the town in 1924, and some of them founded a new settlement called Nea Sinasos in Greece. Before they left, in July 1924, the town's buildings and daily life were documented by a hired photographer, and these photographs were printed in Athens as an album. Immigrants from the village of Jerveni in the Kastoria region of present-day Greece were settled in the town. The name Mustafapaşa also came into use after the exchange. Old rock-cut and masonry places of worship are also found in the town and in the surrounding valleys. Cappadocia University, founded in 2005, has its centre in Mustafapaşa, and sources present it as the first university in Türkiye founded in a village. Together with local residents the university has run projects such as mansion restoration, facade work and landscaping within the village. The best way to explore the town is on foot, starting from the centre and walking up the streets that climb the slopes. The streets are steep and cobbled in places, so wear comfortable shoes. Mustafapaşa is a short drive from Ürgüp; Damsa Dam Lake and Gomeda Valley lie nearby.