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UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE

Goreme Open
Air Museum
is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site

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GOREME OPEN AIR MUSEUM

The Goreme Open-Air Museum resembles a vast
monastic complex composed of scores of refectory
monasteries placed side-by-side, each with its own
fantastic church. It is obviously the first sight to be
visited by any traveler in Cappadocia, standing as it
does in the very center of the region with easy access
from all directions. It is only 15 minutes walk (1.5km, 1
mile) from Goreme village center. It contains the finest
of the rock-cut churches, with beautiful frescoes
(wall paintings) whose colors still retain all their original
freshness. It also presents unique examples of rock hewn
architecture and fresco technique. The Goreme Open Air
Museum has been a member of UNESCO World
Heritage List since 1984, and was one of the first two
UNESC O sites in Turkey.
The area covered by this Open Air Museum forms a
coherent geographical entity and represents historical
unity. There are eleven refectories within the Museum,
with rock-cut churches tables and benches. Each is
associated with a church. Most of the churches in
Goreme Open Air Museum belong to the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries.

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The entrance fee to the museum is 15 TL per person. In summer, it is better to visit the museum early in
the morning or late afternoon, instead of mid-day. There are many churches and chapels in Goreme Open Air
Museum but the most important ones are:

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Nunnery
The 6-7 storey rock mass to the left of the museum entrance is known as "the Nunnery". The dining hall, kitchen
and some rooms on the first floor, together with the ruined chapel on the second level, can still be visited. The
church on the third storey, which can be reached through a tunnel, has a cruciform plan, a dome with four
columns and three apses. The templon on the main apse is rarely found in Goreme's churches. Besides the
fresco of Jesus, painted directly onto the rock, designs painted in red can also be seen. The different levels of
the monastery are connected by tunnels, and "millstone doors", such as those found in the underground cities,
and were used to close off these tunnels in times of danger.
St. Barbara Church
This church is situated behind the rock housing Elmali
(Apple) C hurch. It has a cruciform plan, with two
columns. The north, south and west arms of the cruciform
are barrel vaulted, and the center, the east arm, and the
east corners are domed. There are a main, central apse
and two side apses. Motifs were painted in red directly
onto the rock. The walls and the dome are decorated in a
variety of motifs including geometrical patterns,
mythological animals and military symbols. The walls also
have motifs resembling stonework. This church dates
back to the second half of the 11th century.

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Apple (Elmali) Church

One of the most prominent buildings in the area with its vivid colors, the church is a groin-vaulted structure with
cross-in-square plan, having four columns and a central dome. It has beautiful frescoes dating to the 11th and
12th centuries. And where these have fallen off, you can see simple red-painted ornaments from the iconoclastic
period. The frescoes are narrating scenes from the Bible and the life of C hrist, the Hospitality of Abraham and
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period. The frescoes are narrating scenes from the Bible and the life of C hrist, the Hospitality of Abraham and
Three Hebrew Youths. The building derives its name from the apple orchard collapsed a long time ago, in front
of the main entrance.

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Snake (Yilanli) Church
This church has a linear plan, consisting of two chambers. The front section is barrel-vaulted, while the back one
has a flat ceiling. The red ochre ornaments imitate hewn stone plait. Frescoes dated to the 11th century, are
painted directly on the wall. Opposite the entrance, there is an image of C hrist with a book in his hand, and at
his left, on both sides of a large cross, are Emperor C onstantine and Helena. Right next to it, the Killing of the
Snake by St. George and St. Theodore is depicted. On the opposite wall, Onophrios can be seen with a sapling
in front of him, also the Apostle Thomas, and the founder of the building, St. Basileios holding a book in one
hand and sanctifying with the other.
Dark Church (Karanlik Kilise)
The entrance to this church is from the north through a
winding tunnel which opens into a barrel-vaulted narthex.
You have to pay an extra admission fee (8 TL per person)
but it is surely worth it. In the south of the narthex there
are three graves, two of which are big and the other,
small. The church has a cross plan, the arms of the cross
having a diagonal vault. The templon of the main apse
has been destroyed. This C hurch dates to the end of the
12th century. Some of the scenes on the walls are Deesis,
Annunciation, Journey to Bethlehem, Nativity, Baptism,
Raising of Lazarus, Transfiguration, Entry into Jerusalem,
Last Supper, Betrayal of Judas, the C rucifixion and
Anastasis.
Carikli (Sandals) Church
This two columned church (two other columns being in the
form of pillars), is cross vaulted, and has three apses and
four domes. The well preserved frescoes show the life of
Jesus, Hospitality of Abraham, and images of the saints
and the donors of the church. Although it resembles both
the Karanlik (Dark) and Elmali (Apple) C hurches, the
scenes of the Way of the C ross and the Descent from the C ross make this church different from the others. The
figures are generally large. The footprints under the Ascension scene give the church its name, which means
"with sandal". The church dates back to the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th centuries. The center
dome houses a picture of Jesus the Pantocrator with the busts of angels in the insets. On the central apse is
Deesis, on the north apse Mary and the Baby Jesus, and on the south apse, a picture of St Michael.
Buckle (Tokali) Church
Even though Tokali church is located down the museum
around 50 meters, you can visit the church with the same
ticket that you used for Goreme Open Air Museum. It is a
complex made up of 4 main chambers. The entrance to
the New C hurch having a rectangular plan with
longitudinal axis is made through the barrel-vaulted
single-naved Old C hurch. This rock settlement is divided
with arches into three sections. C ontaining the most
important samples of paintings, the building has been
decorated in various periods.
In the Old C hurch section, frescoes dated to early 10th
century, painted in bands of rich red and green, represent
scenes from the Bible. The indigo dominating the main
chamber frescoes in the New C hurch, is a feature
discerning the structure from the others. Among the rock
churches in C appadocia, Tokali has the best paintings
narrating the life of C hrist in the most detail. The church
is decorated with the Infancy (childhood of C hrist),
Ministry and Passion cycles, with several episodes from
the life of St. Basileios.
At Turkish Heritage Travel, we organize a daily small
group tour that includes Goreme Open Air Museum everyday. C appadocia group tours are 50 Euro per person
(45 Euro per person on cash payment) and size is limited to 12 people.
We also offer private tours to Goreme Open Air Museum at any time you prefer. The rate of the tour is 50 Euro
per person including transfer to/from your hotel in Goreme, entrance fees (both for the museum and Dark
C hurch) and licensed guide. The tour takes around 2 hours.

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Please contact us for further information and booking Goreme Open Air Museum tour.

PLACES TO VISIT IN CAPPADOCIA

There are so many fascinating things to see in Cappadocia that you could spend a lifetime here and still
discover new places. The main 'must-see' attractions are the two large open-air museums and the best of the
underground cities. However, there are also many small, all-but-forgotten rock-cut churches and monasteries,
splendid hiking trails, several spectacular caravanserais and many dramatic rock formations well worth going
out of your way to visit.
Goreme Open Air Museum: cave churches with frescoes
Zelve Open Air Museum: an empty cave town with churches
Kaymakli Underground City: the largest underground city
Derinkuyu Underground City: the deepest underground city
Ihlara Valley: the deepest gorge of Anatolia
Uchisar: Roman rock-cut castle
Ortahisar: Roman rock-cut castle
Avanos: center of pottery since the Hittites
Pasabag: mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys, monks valley
Devrent: animal-shaped fairy chimneys, imagination valley
Hacibektas: center of Bektasi sect of Islam
Gulsehir: first settlements in C appadocia
Forgotten Cave Churches: churches located in the valleys
Caravanserais: 13th century hotels on the silk road
Turkish Heritage Travel
All rights reserved 2004 - 2011

Aydinli Mah. Yavuz Sok. No:1 50180 Goreme, Nevsehir, TURKEY

Phone: +90 384 271 2687
Fax: +90 384 271 2699

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