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The area of Pasabag or Pasabaglari, popularly known as the Love Valley, hosts the most beautiful chimneys which can reach up to 15 to 20 meters in height. They often come multi-coned and you can see two or three of them coalesced into one formation. The valley is 4 kilometers long.

St Simeon’s room

Following the path into the triple-coned fairy chimney in Pasabag we come across two small premises, one of which was used as a seclusion room by the 5th-century hermit St Simeon.

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Pasabag Turkey or the Monk’s Valley

You can climb the ladder up there, but you will have to wait for your turn. There are a lot of tourists and you have to be careful since the climb is too steep and narrow and it is not wise for more than six or seven people to be inside the room at the same time. Although, when it comes to tourists, anything is possible.

If you are confused by the name of the valley, there is a simple answer to that. This area belonged to a gentleman by the name of Pasha, says the book we bought there, and thus the name for the whole valley. We also heard another explanation saying that Pasabag in Turkish actually means the Monk’s Valley, referring to St Simeon.

Wine festival in Urgup

The town of Urgup should not be missed since there are authentic accommodations to be found and a wide range of hotels, restaurants, and shops. It is located at an altitude of 1,800 meters and it is one of the richest places in the Nevsehir province.

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Tourists waiting in line

This is actually the place where the first promotion of Cappadocia began, celebrating its historic heritage and natural beauty.

At the highest spot, on Temeni hill, there is Seljuk sultan’s Kilicharslan grave. Also, in Urgup it is easy to find Turkish baths, to see charming fountains, mosques, the famous library.

But the town is also known for its wine production, crafts, and carpets. If you are into wine, make sure to come here in October, since there is a festival dedicated to it.

Underground cities

Derinkuyu town, located about 30 kilometers from Nevsehir, is very popular, attracting numerous tourists to its underground city that was discovered by chance and opened to the public in 1965.

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Climbing towards St Simeon’s room

It is believed that Hittites, Romans, Byzantines lived in this eight-story city, considered to be the ninth wonder of the ancient world.

There are 36 other underground cities in Cappadocia. They were safe places for the early Christians to worship freely away from prosecution. Later the same places were used as shelters during the Arab raids in the sixth and seventh centuries. The fact that makes the place even more interesting is that it has underground tunnels. It is believed that the one from the third floor once reached all the way to the other underground city of Kaymakli, nine kilometers away.

Byzantine chapel

If you have the time, drive to Sahinefendi place where a mosaic meeting room and a Roman bath were discovered. The research has shown that the meeting room was demolished in the early Byzantine period and a simple chapel was built there in the sixth or seventh century.

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Enormous fairy chimneys reach up to 20 meters

Approximately 100 tombs belonging to Byzantines were discovered in the surrounding area. Corpses were all buried in the same position – with right hands placed above their hearts.

The Roman bath consists of all the necessary structures such as boiler room, hot-cold-warm rooms, pools, and dressing rooms. A sandal figure on the wall of the dressing room is worth seeing. It resembles modern flip-flops.

And so, the end of our trip is near. It seems we have only seen a part of it, still hungry for more of those stories of natural phenomena and people hewing their way into rocks.

All these new impressions have just erased our memory on bumping and jouncing towards Cappadocia previously! Bought some local wine, even a small carpet as a reminder of such a worthy journey. Ballooning is another story (more about it in the last Glimpse!)…

Next: JOSTLING FOR A BALLOON SEAT (17)

The full Cappadocia SERIES

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Comments:

  • 04/03/2017

    We were in Goreme and Kaymakli (spelt it right we hope) to visit the underground cities. It is incredible that these places that had been inhabited for so long was still home to some till 50 years ago!

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  • 05/03/2017

    What a fascinating place. ????

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  • 06/03/2017

    We had never heard of this location, but now we want to experience it. It looks like a truly historical visit, and we hope you enjoyed your wine purchase. Thanks for sharing your story.

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  • 07/03/2017

    I think my favorite is the underground city! It’s such an interesting facet of history. Religion has always been an important part of history and seeing a place like that makes the freedoms we have today a lot more real.

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  • 07/03/2017

    One more historical place. Cappadocia. Would love to know about its history. Thanks for sharing but it will be amazing if you share some information about this.

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  • 07/03/2017

    The wine festival sounds like a great experience, especially in such a unique environment. Id also love to see the crafts and carpets, love finding local crafts like that and how the locals made them.

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  • onlybyland

    09/03/2017

    I remember seeing your photo on Instagram of the chimneys, they could be the 9th wonder of the world (or even the 7th or 8th!). I am inspired to visit these, you photographed them so well and I would love to spend some hours photographing them. The history with the baths and the tombs is interesting too.

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  • 11/03/2017

    I’ve always wanted to go to Cappadocia. But I never realized that there is so much to be discovered (36 underground cities! – Wow!). I guess I’ll have to plan more time for it then 🙂

    Happy continued travels!
    C

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  • rhiydwi

    12/03/2017

    I think this is the first time I’ve ever read about Cappadocia without a photo of a balloon! As breathtaking as those photos are, thank you for sharing more about the are beyond this. Underground cities sound amazing, I’d love to explore some some day.

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    • rhiydwi

      12/03/2017

      Slight typo – *are should be area!

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  • 12/03/2017

    I can make out it must have been fun exploring the underground cities. I would love to spend time there and click loads of pictures. Your pictures have come out so well.

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  • 12/03/2017

    How fascinating! The ruins are such a unique shape and I love the underground. When most think of Cappadocia, they instantly think of all the hot air balloons all over, but this was a nice refreshing viewpoint of another landmark of interest.

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  • littlemisswayfarer

    12/03/2017

    Your triple-coned “fairy chimney” in Pashalgari looks so mind-boggling! That photo of yours got me interested from the first moment on… I think I really have to visit Cappadocia some time really soon! And by the way, how’s the ocal wine???

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      • littlemisswayfarer

        13/03/2017

        Ahhh, perfect. White wine is my favourite… you just convinced me to put Cappadocia on my list 😉

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  • Bethanny Sudibyo

    04/06/2017

    Cappadocia is amazingly beautiful! This is definitely on my list and I would love visit one day. I hope you had an amazing time~

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