Goreme-village, located 10 km from Nevsehir. The main attraction here is an open-air museum, which includes about 30 cave churches (in connection with the restoration work, access is only available in seven of them).

Entertainment, excursions and attractions in Goreme

In honor of which holiday or saint the altars of the Cappadocian temples were consecrated, in most cases it is not known. At present, they have fanciful names, born of the imagination of local residents and reflecting some characteristic feature of temple paintings. Thus, the names of the temples were introduced: Jyanyli-kilis ("Serpent Temple"), Karanlik-kilis ("Dark Temple"), Charikli-kilis ("Temple with sandals"). The very word "kilise" in translation from Turkish means "temple."

In the "Dark Temple" there is a twilight, as it is in the thickness of the rock and light enters through one small window. Here you can see the unique image of Christ, trampling hell in the form of a defeated figure of a man, bound hand and foot. The name "Temple with sandals", according to one version, comes from two notches in the form of human feet, located at the entrance. The frescoes of the "Serpent Temple" depict the Great Martyrs George the Victorious and Theodore Stratilat, in the guise of warriors on white horses that hit a large serpent.

The names of the church of Saint Basil the Great and two chapels sound in a more customary manner for hearing: in the name of the martyrs Barbara and Catherine.

Most of the temples are invisible from the outside, except for those where the collapsed wall reveals a gaze of frescoed space. Being inside you need to look carefully at your feet: very often rock temples were also tombs. Ancient burials have long been devastated, but from them in the floor were oblong sepulchral grooves, sometimes placed so close to each other, that between them a human foot can hardly be placed.

Of course, not all of Goreme's wealth is concentrated on the fenced patch of a museum .Not far from the top of one of the hills is the former maiden monastery ("Merie Manna") .The entrance to it is a narrow and long hole, so that you must make your way inside by literally bending into three deaths .Having made this difficult path, you find yourself in a small temple with fragments of ancient paintings preserved on the vaults and walls .Very interesting is the nearby Sakly-kilise ("The Secret Temple"), which was opened only in 1956 .It has preserved many unique ancient paintings .The earliest erection in Gorem is the El-Nazar temple, dated 10th .The

One of the main attractions of Goreme is Tokala-kilise ("Temple with buckle"). This is the largest local rock temple, it has a good internal preservation, including paintings attributed to the 10th-11th centuries. In a small niche, in the altar part of Tokala-kilil there is an image of the Blessed Virgin "Affection" - the earliest known image of this iconographic exodus.