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Earth and Water on the Banks of the Kızılırmak in Avanos
Cultural

Earth and Water on the Banks of the Kızılırmak in Avanos

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In the valleys of Cappadocia the story told is one of rock and wind; when you reach Avanos, water and earth join the story.

Avanos, Nevşehir
Cultural
Radar Editör
October 19, 2026

About Trip

In the valleys of Cappadocia the story told is one of rock and wind; when you reach Avanos, water and earth join the story. This town, about eighteen kilometres north of Nevşehir, is built on both banks of the Kızılırmak, Turkey's longest river, and owes its name, its livelihood and its colour largely to this river and the clay it leaves behind. This piece describes a slow day along the riverbank in Avanos: crossing the bridges, wandering among the stone houses of the old quarter, tracing the town's pottery and, if you like, extending the day to the underground city north of town or the Seljuk inn to the southeast.

The name and colour of a river

According to Turkish Wikipedia, the Kızılırmak rises at the foot of Kızıldağ in the İmranlı district of Sivas and flows into the Black Sea in the Bafra district of Samsun. At about 1355 kilometres, it is the longest river that both rises and reaches the sea within Turkey's own borders. The river loops in a wide arc around Central Anatolia, and in the southern part of that arc it passes through the lands of Nevşehir. The history page of Avanos Municipality writes that the river's name was Marassantia in the Hittite period and Halys in the Byzantine period.

The river's present name, meaning "red river", is related to its colour. The Turkish Wikipedia article on Avanos notes that because of the tuffaceous and clayey soils it waters near Avanos, the Kızılırmak once took on a redness worthy of its name, and that this feature has largely disappeared since dams were built. The colour you see when you look at the river today varies with the season and the flow. Turkish Wikipedia relates that the river runs low between July and February, begins to swell in March and reaches its highest level in April.

The town's name and past

The name of Avanos is at least as layered as the river. According to Avanos Municipality, many historians accept that the settlement was called Zuwinasa in the Hittite period, Nenansa under the Assyrians, Venessa under the Byzantines and Evenüz under the Seljuks. Turkish Wikipedia relates that the linguist Emil Forrer read the name Zuwinasa on a tablet in the Boğazköy archives in 1926. The municipality's page suggests that the word Evenüz means a town that makes vessels, a town that makes pots and pans. English Wikipedia writes that, according to the ancient geographer Strabo, Venessa was the third most important town of the Kingdom of Cappadocia.

The town's soil also carries the traces of ancient settlement. Avanos Municipality, drawing on findings from excavations at Topaklı Höyük in 1967, states that the history of Avanos goes back at least four thousand years. Turkish Wikipedia relates that excavations at Zank Höyük near Sarılar uncovered remains ranging from the Early Bronze Age to the Late Roman period, and that a marble sarcophagus found by chance in 1971 in a Roman cemetery beside the Kızılırmak is the only sarcophagus ever found in central Cappadocia. In the Ottoman period Avanos was a district between 1867 and 1877, then became a village, and according to the municipality's page became a district again in 1887. When Nevşehir became a province in 1954, it was separated from Kırşehir and attached to Nevşehir.

From clay to vessel

What sets Avanos apart from the other towns of Cappadocia is its pottery. Go Türkiye writes that, thanks to its distinctive red clay, the town has been a centre of pottery since the Hittites. This tradition also has an official counterpart today: according to the records of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, Avanos Pottery was registered as a geographical indication with a designation of origin in 2017. The registration document states that the clay is taken from the old beds of the Kızılırmak and the surrounding hills, among them Gedik, Burabayır, Cinderesi and Kızılöz. According to the same document, the hematite mineral in the clay gives the pottery its red colours, and depending on the hematite content the colour ranges from pale yellow to deep red. In other words, the name of the river and the colour of the town's vessels are two faces of the same earth.

The document also tells how the pottery travelled from the town to the wider world. Pots made in Avanos were put into sacks and carried on donkey back to the markets of the surrounding provinces and districts, and it is known that the men of Avanos travelled in long caravans as far as Adana. The goods were mostly bartered: whoever took a pot gave in return as much of their own produce as would fill it. According to the document, over time the roads linking Avanos to the surrounding centres became strewn with potsherds. As you walk around town you will pass the potters' workshops, known locally as işlik. If you have the chance to watch a master at the wheel, do not hurry; the çıkrık wheel, the moulds and the felt used to wet the clay described in the registration document are right there before your eyes. The detailed story of the pottery is the subject of a separate Radar article; here it is enough to keep in mind its bond with the town.

A walk between the two banks

The best way to get to know Avanos is to join the river's two banks on foot. According to the municipality's page, the town is built on both banks of the Kızılırmak, and the river divides the district down the middle from east to west. The two banks are linked by four bridges; two are on the ring road, one is of stone and one is a suspension bridge.

Start your walk at the stone bridge. According to Avanos Municipality, construction of the bridge began in 1898 and it opened in 1900; it is 151 metres long, and its pedestrian section was widened in 1995. Stop in the middle of the bridge and look along the course of the river; on one side the houses of the old town climb the slope, on the other you see the bank of more recent building. Then cross to the footbridge. The municipality's page writes that this bridge, built in 1973 of timber on iron piers, is 180 metres long and about two metres thirty centimetres wide, was repaired in 1994, and that its section over the river sways gently like a swing. You are expected to feel this sway as you cross; walk slowly, holding the railings.

The southern bank of the river is flatter. English Wikipedia relates that Avanos grew rapidly in the early 2000s and that its southern bank was landscaped and turned into a recreation area after 2010. Walking along the bank and sitting close to the water gives the calmest moments of the day. A good riverbank photograph of Avanos needs height; seen from the upper streets of the old quarter, the river, the bridges and the flat land on the opposite bank come together in a single frame.

Wandering in old Avanos

The northern bank of the river is the town's old face. English Wikipedia writes that most of the visible history of Avanos consists of impressive stone houses from the 19th and early 20th centuries, found in the older part of town on the northern bank of the river. The same source notes that old Avanos is riddled with a network of small underground spaces, now mainly used by pottery workshops. So here too the underground and the surface are intertwined.

You can link your walk in the old quarter to Şairler Sokağı, the Street of Poets. According to Turkish Wikipedia, the street, laid out in 2018, runs from Hacı Nuri Bey Konağı up to Bayramtepe and is lined with busts of twenty-six poets who shaped Turkish poetry, together with quotations from their work. As you climb the slope slowly among this line of poets, stretching from Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar to Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı and from Orhan Veli to Gülten Akın, you come across seating areas and side lanes leading to old houses along the street. When you reach Bayramtepe you have the chance to look down on the town and the river.

Extending the day, Özkonak and Sarıhan

If you have time left after half a day in Avanos, choose one of two directions. Heading northeast brings you to the Özkonak Underground City. According to the ministry's museum page, the underground city lies in the town of Özkonak, fourteen kilometres from Avanos, carved into the thick tuff layers on the northern slopes of İdiş Mountain, and opened to visitors in 1972. English Wikipedia relates that the city was found in 1972 by a local farmer curious about where his water was disappearing to, and that the holes cut above the tunnels for defence distinguish it from the other underground cities in the region.

Heading southeast brings you to Sarıhan. According to Turkish Wikipedia, the inn stands about five kilometres southeast of Avanos in the Damsa valley and was built in 1249 in the reign of İzzeddin Keykavus II. Turkish Archaeological News writes that the inn takes its name, meaning "yellow inn", from the colour of the stones used to build it, that it was built of volcanic stone in three colours, yellow, beige and pink, that its gate faces west, and that it owes its present appearance to a thorough restoration in 1991. The same source states that Sarıhan was the last caravanserai built by the Seljuk sultans. Stand in front of the portal and look at how the coloured stones create a decorative effect in the arches; here too the earth of Avanos shapes the language of a building.

Season and time of day

Like the rest of Cappadocia, Avanos has a continental climate; English Wikipedia writes that summers are hot and dry and winters cold and snowy. Spring and autumn are the best seasons for the riverside walk. In April you have a chance to see the river at its highest. In summer, avoid the midday hours when the heat rises and leave the riverside walk for the morning or late afternoon. Late-afternoon light catches the stone facades of the old quarter and the surface of the river at their finest.

Practical notes

Avanos is linked to central Nevşehir by road, and the town is small enough to walk around comfortably. Because the suspension bridge sways, hold children by the hand when crossing. If you want to try making pottery in a workshop, ask the master first and do not feel obliged to buy anything. The Özkonak Underground City is an archaeological site run by the ministry; check opening hours and admission fees on the official museum page. Visiting conditions at Sarıhan may also change, so check current information before you go. When approaching the river, remember that the bank can be wet and slippery, and especially in the spring months when the water rises, do not go too close to the edge.

Sources

Location - Earth and Water on the Banks of the Kızılırmak in Avanos

Trip Info
CityAvanos, Nevşehir
TypeCultural
DateOctober 19, 2026
SourceRadar Editör
Radar TürkiyeAuthorRadar TürkiyeVisit SourceGet Directions