Photos of Göreme
Göreme Open-Air Museum
Göreme Open-Air Museum in Cappadocia, Turkey
The Göreme Open-Air Museum is a compact complex of monasteries, churches and chapels hewn into soft volcanic tuff in Cappadocia, located about 1.5 km from the center of the town of Göreme. Since 1985 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia".
Monastic life in this area developed during the early Byzantine period, and most of the churches and paintings date from the 10th to 12th centuries. The site includes early linear images executed in red ochre as well as later polychrome frescoes in the Byzantine tradition depicting New Testament scenes and saints.
The grounds contain cells, dining halls and service rooms, along with a number of churches with distinctive plans and decoration. Among the best known are the multi-level Nuns' Monastery, the Church of Saint Basil, the Church of Saint Barbara with ochre and geometric designs, the Church with the Apple with four supporting pillars, the Snake Church featuring warrior-saints, and the Church of the Sandals with a motif of footprints. The Dark Church is noted for its better-preserved paintings and usually requires a separate ticket. The largest building in the complex, Tokali Kilise, stands slightly apart opposite the entrance and is included in the museum visit.
The route is arranged along prepared paths between the rock formations. Information panels help link the architecture of the dwellings with the iconography of the frescoes and give an overview of the development of monasticism in Cappadocia.
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The Göreme Open-Air Museum is a compact complex of monasteries, churches and chapels hewn into soft volcanic tuff in Cappadocia, located about 1.5 km from the center of the town of Göreme. Since 1985 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia".
Monastic life in this area developed during the early Byzantine period, and most of the churches and paintings date from the 10th to 12th centuries. The site includes early linear images executed in red ochre as well as later polychrome frescoes in the Byzantine tradition depicting New Testament scenes and saints.
The grounds contain cells, dining halls and service rooms, along with a number of churches with distinctive plans and decoration. Among the best known are the multi-level Nuns' Monastery, the Church of Saint Basil, the Church of Saint Barbara with ochre and geometric designs, the Church with the Apple with four supporting pillars, the Snake Church featuring warrior-saints, and the Church of the Sandals with a motif of footprints. The Dark Church is noted for its better-preserved paintings and usually requires a separate ticket. The largest building in the complex, Tokali Kilise, stands slightly apart opposite the entrance and is included in the museum visit.
The route is arranged along prepared paths between the rock formations. Information panels help link the architecture of the dwellings with the iconography of the frescoes and give an overview of the development of monasticism in Cappadocia.
A monument to early Byzantine monasticism with surviving frescoes.
Rock churches with cycles of Byzantine frescoes
The rock-cut churches preserve various types of plans - from simple single-nave spaces to interiors with four columns and cross-vaulted ceilings. On the walls and vaults you can see scenes from the life of Christ, images of the Virgin and the apostles, figures of warrior-saints, as well as crosses and ornaments. Early paintings were executed in red ochre on the stone, while later ones are multicolored with more complex compositions.
The monastic buildings give an idea of the inhabitants' daily life: there are dining halls with long stone tables and benches, rock-cut staircases, cells and small storage rooms. In some chapels fragments of Greek inscriptions are still visible. The Church of the Sandals preserves the motif of footprints, and Tokali Kilise has a particularly rich pictorial program - a large church with scenes arranged in long decorative bands.
The route is a loop with sections of stairs and stone steps. The Dark Church is visited with a separate ticket, sold at the entrance to the church itself, and lighting inside is limited to preserve the frescoes. Tokali Kilise is located off the main circuit - it is convenient to visit it before or after touring the main area.
Nearby, you can combine the visit with a climb to Uchisar Castle, a walk through Pashabag Valley and visits to the old settlements at Cavusin and the Zelve complex. The easiest way to get there from Göreme town center is on foot or by taxi along the road to the museum; there is parking at the entrance. Dolmuş minibuses run from Nevşehir, Avanos and Uchisar to Göreme, from where it is a short walk.
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