Göreme Open Air Museum Guide

From around the 10th to the 12th century, this small valley just outside Göreme was a monastic community. Monks carved chapels, refectories and living quarters into the cones of soft rock and covered many of the walls in paintings. It's the best single place in Cappadocia to see Byzantine frescoes, and it's part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Göreme National Park and the rock sites of Cappadocia.

It's also the busiest site in the region, and the churches are small. A group of thirty inside a chapel the size of a bedroom changes the experience completely, so be at the gate at opening time or come in the last couple of hours of the day.

Start with the Nunnery (Kızlar Manastırı), a tall rock block just inside the entrance with several storeys of rooms connected by tunnels. Only the lower part is usually open. Follow the path uphill and around.

The Chapel of St. Basil and the Apple Church (Elmalı Kilise) come next. The Apple Church has a set of domes and scenes from the life of Christ, and the paint has flaked in places to show simpler red geometric decoration underneath, from an earlier period. Nearby, the Church of St. Barbara is almost entirely painted in red ochre directly on the rock: crosses, geometric patterns and strange insect-like figures that nobody fully agrees on.

The Snake Church (Yılanlı Kilise) is named after its best-known painting, St. George and St. Theodore killing a dragon. Look for the hermit Onuphrius on the same wall, with a very long beard.

Then the Dark Church (Karanlık Kilise). It needs its own extra ticket, bought at its entrance, and the regional Cappadocia pass doesn't cover it. Pay it. Because so little light reached the interior, the colours have survived far better than anywhere else in the valley: deep blues, the faces of saints, a full cycle from the Annunciation to the Crucifixion. Next door, the Sandal Church (Çarıklı Kilise) takes its name from the footprints painted below the Ascension scene.

Before you head back to Göreme, don't miss Tokalı Church, the Buckle Church. It's across the road on the way down, a few hundred metres from the main entrance, and many visitors walk straight past it. Your main ticket covers it. It's the largest church in the complex, with a vivid blue background to its frescoes.

A full visit takes two hours at a steady pace. The site is covered by the Museum Pass Türkiye and the regional Cappadocia pass, and ticket prices change regularly, so check the official museum website. Flash isn't allowed in the churches, and staff will stop you.

It's about 2 km from Göreme's centre, an easy walk uphill. On the way back, the path through the fields leads into the start of Rose Valley and Red Valley. For a complete plan, see our 2-day itinerary.