Ortahisar Kalesi

Ortahisar Castle is a giant tuff rock, hollowed out by hand, that rises in the very centre of the town of Ortahisar in the Ürgüp district. It is not a castle built of masonry walls; the volcanic rock itself was gradually turned into a place of defence and shelter. A research project carried out at Middle East Technical University describes it as the largest fairy chimney in the Nevşehir region. Local people also call the rock Sivrikaya. The sources do not agree on its height. Most Turkish sources speak of about eighty-six metres, the English Wikipedia gives ninety metres, and the Ministry's Kültür Portalı simply says it is over fifty metres. Whichever figure you take, the rock stands alone above the houses like a tower and can be picked out from a distance on the road between Ürgüp and Nevşehir. Nobody knows exactly when the carving began. Kültür Portalı and local sources think the first hollows were opened in the Hittite period; Küre Encyclopedia notes traces of Roman and Byzantine times in the area and says the rock was used for defence in the Byzantine period. According to local sources, İshak Pasha, one of the commanders of Sultan Mehmed II, took Ortahisar in 1470 together with the castles of Başhisar, Uçhisar and Niğde, bringing the region into Ottoman lands. In the Ottoman period settlement grew at the foot of the rock and the fabric of today's town took shape. Inside, the rock works like a multi-storey building. Rooms, narrow stairways and tunnels are linked to one another, and this system served both for living and for protection. The softness of the tuff made carving easy, while the thick mass of rock provides natural insulation that evens out temperature changes. For that reason some rooms were long used as storage, and produce such as apples, potatoes and quinces was kept here. The castle's name is tied to a local story about the three rock castles of the region. According to the Turkish Wikipedia article on Uçhisar, people say the castle at the far edge was called Uçhisar, the one watching over the middle ground Ortahisar, and the seat of government Başhisar. This is a folk explanation, and the sources do not present it as firm historical fact. The town itself should be read together with the castle. Houses climb towards the rock in steps, and the upper floors of the old buildings are mostly made of tuff blocks laid without mortar. Some of these stone buildings were once used only for storing food, and the upper floor is often reached by an outside stair of tuff slabs. There are rock-cut structures in the surrounding valleys too, but what sets Ortahisar apart is its cold stores carved into the rock. These stores are what made Ortahisar the granary of Cappadocia. In the caves cut into the tuff the temperature stays at around ten degrees in both summer and winter. Potatoes, apples and onions are kept here, along with oranges and lemons brought from Mersin, for months without using any energy. The town joined the international Cittaslow network in 2026, and this natural storage tradition stood out among the reasons for its membership. The castle's recent history is a conservation story. Because of natural cracks in the rock and the risk of rockfall, the castle was closed to visitors in 2003. Under a restoration project launched by Ortahisar Municipality, crack gauges and wind, humidity and temperature sensors were fixed to the rock in the summer of 2011. A team of climbers reached parts that had been inaccessible to install extra gauges, and sensitive accelerometers measuring vibration were placed at the top. An early warning system based on the measurements was set up, and a computer model of the rock was used to study its behaviour in an earthquake. Küre Encyclopedia writes that the castle reopened to tourism in 2013 once safety measures were in place. Today you approach the castle from inside the town, from the Kale Sokak side, and follow the path and steps to the top. The summit is a viewing terrace that shows the surrounding valleys, fairy chimneys and the plain towards Ürgüp in a wide sweep. The steps are steep and narrow in places, so wear shoes with a good grip and hold small children by the hand. To see the castle at its best, look at it first from below, from the town square. The mouths of rooms and window openings on the rock face stand out more clearly in the morning light. After that, walking the lanes between the houses and looking at the doors and outside stairs of the stone stores makes it easier to understand how the town grew around the castle. Ortahisar lies about five kilometres west of Ürgüp, close to the Nevşehir road. Kültür Portalı notes that the town is one kilometre from the main road between Ürgüp and Nevşehir. Entry conditions, opening days and admission may change, so check the current announcements of the local municipality and Kültür Portalı before you go. The castle is a short stop that can easily be combined with Ürgüp and Uçhisar on the same day.