From Ortahisar to Sobesos, Ürgüp's Rock Castle, Fairy Chimneys and Stone Village

Begin the route in Ortahisar, at the foot of the rock castle that rises from the middle of the town. The Culture Portal writes that the town lies about one kilometre from the Ürgüp–Nevşehir road and that the castle can be seen from the main road. So before you enter the town, a good way to start is to stop somewhere safe by the roadside and see the castle from a distance, as a single mass rising among the houses. The townspeople call this rock Sivrikaya; the English Wikipedia also notes that the town's name in the Byzantine period was Potamia. The height of the castle is given differently in the sources: the Culture Portal says more than fifty metres, Küre Encyclopedia and the Cappadocia Culture Route give about 86 metres, and the English Wikipedia gives 90 metres. Whichever figure you take, the rock is a natural mass of tuff, and its interior is full of rooms, stairways and tunnels carved by human hands. When the carving of the castle began is not known for certain. Local sources link the first carvings to the Hittite period, while Küre Encyclopedia stresses that the exact date is unknown and that traces of the Roman and Byzantine periods have been found in the area. According to a local account cited by the Culture Inventory, the castle passed under Ottoman rule in 1470, together with the castles of Uçhisar and Başhisar, during the campaign İshak Pasha led against the Karamanids. Walk up the slope to the castle, because, as Wikipedia describes, the houses of Ortahisar rise step by step towards the castle and you see this arrangement best on foot. On the way, look at the outside staircases of the old stone houses. The English Wikipedia explains that the upper floors of these houses were mostly built of tuff blocks without mortar and that the upper floor is reached by an outside staircase made of tuff slabs. The same source also writes that the more recent buildings are made of regularly cut blocks of the same stone and that their outer walls are covered with white lime. When you reach the castle entrance, check the entry conditions and current visiting information in the announcements of Ortahisar Municipality. The fact that the castle can be visited again today is the result of a long conservation effort. According to the project description published on World Architecture Community, the castle was closed to visitors in 2003 because of the risk of rockfall and collapse created by its natural cracks. According to the same description, in 2011 crack gauges, wind, humidity and temperature sensors and accelerometers were installed on the rock, additional sensors were fitted with a climbing team in sections that had been unreachable before, and an alarm system with sound and light was set up. Küre Encyclopedia writes that the castle was brought back into tourism in 2013, once safety measures had been taken. The steps inside are narrow and steep in places; keep your hands free as you climb and stop on the level stretches to take photographs. When you reach the top, the panoramic view described by Küre opens up, and the surrounding valleys, fairy chimneys and the roofs of the town spread out beneath your feet. The names of Uçhisar and Başhisar, mentioned together by the Culture Inventory, are a reminder of why defence in this region was always placed on high rocks like this one. On the way down, pay attention to the doors on the slopes of the town that face the valleys, because some of them belong to the famous rock storerooms of Ortahisar. According to Wikipedia, these storerooms, carved into the slopes of almost every valley, hold potatoes and apples grown in the area as well as oranges and lemons brought from the Mediterranean Region. The English Wikipedia writes that the tuff caves stay at about 10 degrees in summer and winter and that produce is kept in them for up to nine months. According to Wikipedia, the town is known as the granary of Cappadocia because of these storerooms, and in 2026 it joined the international Cittaslow network, becoming the region's first slow city. The same source also notes that some of the storerooms are now used as places to stay or to eat; do not enter a storeroom in use without permission, but look from outside and move on. Photograph the castle from the lower streets of the town, with the roofs of the houses in the foreground; the colour of the tuff looks warmer in the morning and afternoon light. From here, turn back onto the Nevşehir–Ürgüp road and head east; a short drive towards the entrance of Ürgüp takes you to the next stop, the Three Beauties.

Source: Kültür Portalı, Ortahisar Kalesi; Küre Ansiklopedi, Ortahisar Kalesi; World Architecture Community, Ortahisar Castle Conservation Project; Wikipedia, Ortahisar.

When you turn from Ortahisar onto the Nevşehir–Ürgüp road and head towards Ürgüp, the Three Beauties greet you by the roadside. A CNN Türk report writes that this group of fairy chimneys stands on the Nevşehir–Ürgüp road and consists of two large fairy chimneys and one small one. According to a Haber7 report based on the Anadolu Agency, people describe the three columns as father, mother and child, and the fact that they stand close together has made them one of the symbols of the region. Leave your car in the arranged area and first go up to the viewpoint; CNN Türk describes visitors watching the Three Beauties from the viewing hill. From here you see how the fairy chimneys form a single view together with the valley behind them. Now turn your eyes to the dark caps on top of the columns, because the real lesson of this stop is geology. The fairy chimneys page of the Nevşehir Governorate explains that the tuff layers spread over the region by volcanic activity were worn away by rain and wind, and that rock columns of different heights emerged in this way. According to the same page, more resistant rocks are preserved on the upper parts of some formations, and this is why the conical columns and rock caps stand out. At the Three Beauties you see this mechanism as clearly as in a textbook: the hard cap protects the soft column beneath it from the rain like an umbrella. Look at the line where the cap sits on the column; the difference in colour and texture between the two kinds of rock reads most clearly there. The Governorate stresses that the erosion of these formations is still going on and that fairy chimneys are a fragile heritage in the face of changing climate conditions and human activity. It is possible to see the traces of this fragility with the naked eye at the Three Beauties. The CNN Türk report relates that some visitors carve names into the columns, draw hearts or write on them with spray paint, and that this damages structures formed over thousands of years. Do not touch the columns, do not climb on them, and do not step off the path on the soft earth ridges around them. There is also a folk tale connected with the name of the fairy chimneys. According to the tale told by Bengütürk, a king's daughter falls in love with a shepherd from among the common people, the two of them flee the palace and years later they have a child. The tale says that when the soldiers who followed them found the family in the valley, the three of them turned together into fairy chimneys. This is a legend, but as you look at the columns it is not hard to understand why two large fairy chimneys and one small one were likened to a family. According to the Haber7 report, Ürgüp Municipality landscaped the surroundings of the site and placed horse figures there, inspired by the region's name as the land of beautiful horses. These figures are a backdrop set up for photographs; if you want to photograph the fairy chimneys on their own, step a few paces aside and frame the picture again. For photographs, choose the side light of the morning or the afternoon, because low-angled light brings out the lines of erosion on the columns. Haber7 writes that visitor numbers at the site stay high all day; the benefit of starting the day early shows here too, if you want a picture without crowds. You do not need to stay long at this stop, but do not hurry either, because the next two stops move from rocks shaped by nature to stone settlements built by human hands. From the Three Beauties, go down into the centre of Ürgüp and head south to Mustafapaşa, which according to the Culture Portal lies about five kilometres south of Ürgüp.

Source: Nevşehir Valiliği, Peribacaları; CNN Türk; Haber7 (Anadolu Ajansı); Bengütürk.

When you reach Mustafapaşa, leave your car at the entrance to the village, because this stop is explored on foot from start to finish. The Culture Portal writes that the village lies five kilometres south of Ürgüp and that its name in antiquity was Sinasos. According to Wikipedia, it was built on the lower slopes of the five hills around it; this is why the streets constantly rise and fall and another slope opens up at every bend. Keep the village's story in mind before you set off, because most of the imposing stone houses you see today are the product of a single century. Wikipedia explains that in the 19th century Sinasos was one of the richest settlements in Cappadocia and that its people, who grew rich through trade away from home, had large mansions and public buildings built in their home town. According to the same source, the town was known in this period as the Pearl of the East. The page on the doorways of Sinasos prepared by Cappadocia University also writes that the 19th century and the early 20th century were the period when the town's prosperity was at its height, and that those who had grown rich through trade in Istanbul came back and had splendid houses built. According to Wikipedia, the village's Greek population left with the population exchange of 1924, and families who came from the village of Jerveni in present-day Greece were settled in the village. Küre Encyclopedia writes that the village took its name from Seyyid Mustafa Pasha, who had fountains built to relieve its water shortage, and that this name became official in 1966 when a municipality was founded. Start your walk in the centre of the village and first find the crown gate of the Mehmet Şakir Pasha Madrasa. Wikipedia writes that the madrasa was founded in 1899. The Cappadocia University page explains that this crown gate was designed on a monumental scale rarely seen in the Ottoman period and that, with its stepped arches, colonnettes and plant and geometric reliefs, it is a masterpiece of the region's stone carvers. Notice that even the inscription above the gate was separately decorated as part of the ornamental scheme. Then spread out into the streets and look at the entrance doors of the mansions one by one. According to the same page, most of the doors have double wooden leaves, round and depressed arches are the most common forms in the stone parts, and each door is composed differently from the others. On some doors you will find common ornaments such as the wheel motif, and on others reliefs that reflect the personal taste of the owner. Look for the door knockers too: the page writes that the courtyard door of the Sultanidis Mansion, now the administrative building of Cappadocia University, has a knocker in the form of a human hand shown from the wrist. Wikipedia relates that the mansions are built of cut stone, that most of them have two storeys and decorated balconies, and that they were built by stonemasons of different origins attached to the Ürgüp guild. According to the same source, of the mansions thought to have numbered around 700 at the time of the exchange, about 120 are still standing today, while Küre Encyclopedia writes that there are 93 registered historic houses in the village. Wikipedia also notes that most of the mansions have wall paintings in their interiors, but these buildings are in use today; go inside only where a place is open to visitors and with permission. In the middle of your walk, go down to the Maraşoğlu Bridge; Wikipedia writes that this cut-stone bridge is one of the old structures of the village and that today it links two neighbourhoods. According to Wikipedia there are 12 fountains in the village, and the oldest of them is the Gazi Street Fountain, built at the end of the 16th century. The same source gives 1804 as the date of the two fountains that carry the name of Seyyid Mustafa Pasha; look for their inscriptions as you pass. There are also rock-cut structures in the valleys around the village, but this route concentrates on the civil stone architecture of Mustafapaşa. Just before the exchange, in the summer of 1924, all the buildings of the town and its daily life were recorded by a professional photographer, and these photographs were printed as an album in Athens. Wikipedia writes that this album was also published as a book in Türkiye in 2007, which makes it possible to compare the facades you see in the streets with how they looked a hundred years ago. The village was declared a tourism centre in 1981, and in 2021 it was named among the best tourism villages of the World Tourism Organization, a title the Culture Portal also mentions. According to Wikipedia, Cappadocia University, which has its centre in Mustafapaşa, has worked together with local people on the village's restoration and facade projects. If you have time left, make a short detour to the Damsa Dam Lake near the village; the Culture Portal presents it as a picnic area covered with pine trees. From Mustafapaşa continue south towards the village of Şahinefendi, because the last stop, Sobesos, lies within the boundaries of this village.

Source: Kültür Portalı, Mustafapaşa Köyü; Kapadokya Üniversitesi, Sinasos Kapıları; Küre Ansiklopedi, Mustafapaşa Köyü; Wikipedia, Mustafapaşa.

The last stop of the route, Sobesos, lies according to the Culture Portal within the boundaries of the village of Şahinefendi, about 25 kilometres from Ürgüp. The town stands south of the Damsa Valley, among the low hills that surround it. According to Wikipedia, it was realised that there was an ancient town here after some remains around the village were noticed, and in 2002 the Nevşehir Museum Directorate began excavations. Küre Encyclopedia writes that the excavations were carried out in 2002–2005 and 2010–2011; according to a report in Yeni Birlik, the work continues today under an excavation director from the Archaeology Department of Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University. This stop sets up a deliberate contrast with the rock-cut settlements you have seen during the day. The excavation director tells the same report that, unlike the settlements carved into the rock, civil and public architecture here spreads over open ground, and that Sobesos can be considered together with towns such as Tyana and Mokissos. Before you set out, check the visiting conditions and current information in the announcements of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. When you enter the site, walk under the roof that protects the remains; the report describes the part open to visitors as a villa with mosaics, thought to have belonged to aristocrats. According to the Culture Portal, the earliest known remain of the settlement is the building called Villa I, which was originally the house of a local elite. In its early phase the rectangular building had a colonnaded portico on the outside, it was entered through the door on the north, and inside there were rooms wrapping around the courtyard in an L shape. What makes the building special are the mosaics with geometric motifs that cover its floor; examine them first, slowly, following them from one end to the other. Küre Encyclopedia writes that besides star, rhombus and flower motifs the mosaics also include the figure of a partridge. The villa went on being used for other purposes in later centuries, but the Culture Portal notes that its general plan and its mosaics have been largely preserved. Then move on to the bath house at the northern end of the town. The Culture Portal explains that the bath is a variation of the Anatolian tradition of baths with rooms in a row and that its plan stretches out in an L shape. From west to east come the hot room, the warm room and two cold rooms, and from north to south the changing room and the steam room. According to Küre, the bath was heated by the hypocaust technique, which circulated hot air under the floor; as you walk between the rooms, keep in mind this arrangement in which the heat rose from the floor. The most famous mosaic of the bath is a pair of sandals at the door of the second cold room, and you should not leave the site without finding it. In the changing room, although it is partly damaged, you can see geometric and plant decoration set in circular panels within an area framed by a guilloche motif. Küre writes that from the 7th century onwards, with the Arab raids, the bath changed its function and some of its rooms began to be used as dwellings and workshops. The Culture Portal describes traces of streets and lanes belonging to a group of houses on the site, as well as many tombs notable for the original design of their lids. Do not step on the mosaics and do not climb on the wall foundations outside the roof, because they are part of an excavation that is still going on. According to the Yeni Birlik report, traces of settlement reaching back to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age have also been found in the excavations alongside the Roman buildings, and the excavation director says that the settlement may be larger than what can be seen today. When you take photographs, remember that the shadow of the roof can create a harsh contrast on the mosaics; a cloudy day or afternoon light shows the colours in a more balanced way. As you end the day, look once more at the open land around you: unlike the rock you entered in the morning, here the town was built on top of the soil. On the way back you can return the same way through Mustafapaşa to Ürgüp and end the day in the centre of Ürgüp.

Source: Kültür Portalı, Sobesos Antik Kenti; Küre Ansiklopedi, Sobesos Antik Kenti; Yeni Birlik; Wikipedia, Sobesos.