When Cappadocia was described by 19th century travelers, the area that includes Göreme and other small districts, villages and towns surrounding it, was called Lunar Cappadocia and the Nigde and Aksaray regions further south, which have arable land, were included in travelers notes as Southern Cappadocia. Therefore, when we were programming these tours in the 1990s, we divided the region into two separate lines and since the tours were mostly walking in the beginning, we named the South Cappadocia tour the "Green Tour", influenced by the rich flora of the Ihlara Valley. (In fact, in the beginning, there were no touristic stops which enrich the content of our recently "Green Tour" today. People would only walk 14 km from the beginning of the Ihlara Valley and meet the vehicles next to Selime Monastery and return to the region.
The first stop in this tour is goreme Panoramic View point, located at the highest point of Goreme, from where a stunning view of the village itself, rock hotels, nearby valleys and Uchisar castle opens up. The guide will give you detailed information about the region, its geological and historical past.
Underground cities are a unique feature of Cappadocia, they appeared due to the fact that the layer of soft tuff sometimes reaches a thickness of several tens of meters. It was easy enough for people to expand and deepen their buildings. Underground cities saved people from raids. In total, 36 underground cities have been discovered in Cappadocia. At first, these were more underground villages with a small number of rooms, but gradually, especially in the Byzantine period, they grew to the size of cities, accommodating up to thirty thousand people. The underground city of Derinkuyu, which translated from Turkish means "deep well", has eight underground floors and goes 55,5 meters deep. There are rooms for pets, warehouses, a dining room, a kitchen, wine cellars, a church and even a missionary school, a confessional and a font. The ventilation shafts of that time still function here, and the tunnels and halls are quite well lit.
The turquoise star of Southern Cappadocia, "Narlı Lake" is a crater lake. The hot and cold spring waters coming out of the bottom of the lake, which is approximately 100 meters deep, indicate the existence of geothermal activity still boiling under the lake. This lake, which is also the source of hot thermal water for the thermal hotels around the lake, does not escape attention when viewed from above, and it also has the shape of a heart. Here your guide will give you desctiption about the lake and let you enjoy here Turkish Coffee or Tea with lake view.
Ihlara is a canyon that divided the plain into two "banks" like a deep ravine. Its length is about 14 kilometers, and its depth in some places is up to 150 meters. The canyon stretches from the village of Ihlara to the village of Selime. The small river Melendiz flows along the bottom. Ihlara served as a refuge for Christian monks, and therefore dozens of rock-cut churches and hundreds of residential caves were found here. The walking tour through the valley lasts 3.5 km.
The murmur of the river, birdsong, delicious local cuisine - what you need to relax, gain strength and continue your journey!
Selime Monastery is located on the northern edge of the Ihlara Canyon and is the highest rock-cut monastery in Cappadocia. The views from it are amazing! It is also notable for the fact that in one composition you can see all the components of the monastery. Nex to monastery other must see place is "Yaprakhisar" or So call "Star Wars Valley". after the description of your guide here you will have min. 30 minutes free time here to take amazing pictures and to have time to see all churches, Chapels and other comlexes.
The pigeons are very important in Cappadocia. Because if you need to grow herbs, vegetables, grapes etc. you need to fertalise the soil. otherwise the harvest will be inefficient and unhealthy.
* Lunch
* English, Japanes, Russian Speaking Guide
* Bottle Of Water
* Museum Tickets
* Hotel pick up/Drop Off
Drinks at lunch
