Goreme Open Air Museum is one of the most special formations of Cappadocia. The region has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985 as a natural and cultural entity. The Göreme Open Air Museum is a densely populated area from the fourth to the thirteenth century.
The Göreme Open Air Museum was founded in the fourth century as a center of religious education and thought by the Bishop of Kayseri, an important figure in the history of Christianity. The ideas of Saint Basil, who brought many innovations to Christianity, were first taught here. The monastery in the area lasted for a thousand years.
In the initial parts of the valleys in the Cappadocia region, there are large rock blocks as a result of natural erosion. The Göreme Open Air Museum was built right at the beginning of such a valley and almost every rock block in the surrounding area was carved out and used for various purposes. With the transformation of the region into a museum, landscaping was made suitable for the trip.
Cappadocia is surrounded by churches carved into the rocks on four sides. The Göreme Open Air Museum with the best preserved Byzantine churches and frescoes is the crown of the region.
Places to See in Goreme Open-Air Museum
Boys and Girls Monastery
St. Basil's Chapel
Elmalı Church
Saint Barbara Chapel
Yılanlı Church
Karanlık Church
St. Catherine's Chapel
Çarıklı Church
Tokalı Church
1. Boys and Girls Monastery
The monastery called the Monastery of Girls and Boys or the Monastery of the Nuns and Priests, is located at the entrance of the museum. In the Kızlar Monastery, a seven-storey large complex with a cafeteria, a kitchen, a chapel and a church, the floors are connected by tunnels. Only the first two floors of the monastery are open to visitors.
2. St. Basil's Chapel
St. Basil's Chapel is located at the entrance of Göreme Open-Air Museum. The chapels, which are usually built for a particular person and which are smaller than the church, have different tombs. Narteks is called the section which is located in the church entrances and separated from the main section by columns. This chapel, built in the name of St. Basil, has a cemetery where important people are buried in the narthex section separated by columns.
3. Elmalı Church
Elmali Church, nine domes, four columns, closed cross plan, three apsis structure. The main entrance to the church from the south direction, can be entered through a tunnel opening from the north. The first decorations of the Apple Church, which is not too big but resembles a work of art due to its architecture and decorations, are the cross and geometric motifs made with red paint on the wall directly.
4. Saint Barbara Chapel
The Saint Barbara Chapel is located behind the rock block where the Elmalı Church is located. After the iconoclastic period, geometric patterns were used without human figures. The chapel in the name of the Egyptian Saint Barbara who was martyred for his death by his father because of his Christian faith was built in the name of Barbara. The two columns, the west, the north and the south.
5. Yılanlı Church
It is believed that to continue in the event of the death of a saint or saint during the construction of the Yılanlı Church is considered to have been left unfinished. The church, whose fame is from St. Onophrius, depicted as a man with female breasts on the right wall of the entrance, takes its name from St. George. The green dragon figure on the wall of the church, which depicts Saint George depicting the war with the dragon, was called the serpentine church because of its snake likeness.
6. Karanlık Church
Karanlık Church is a church that has a sheltered entrance and can only be reached by passing through a tunnel. The church, which dates back to the eleventh century, which is very poorly damaged due to its difficult transportation, is considered to be the best preserved church of Cappadocia.
7. St. Catherine's Chapel
St. Catherine's Chapel is located between Karanlık Church and Çarıklı Church. The 11th century chapel, Anna, is thought to have been built by a Christian donor. Both the narthex and the chapel made with the free cross plan of the naos are located in the center of the dome. There are eleven tombs in St. Catherine, a cross-barrel vaulted and apse templonated.
8. Çarıklı Church
Çarıklı Church, the name of Hz. He took it from his footprints beneath the fresco that depicts Jesus' ascension to heaven. This church with two columns and four domes is cross-vaulted, with three apses and two columns. Elmali and Karanlık Church resemble the careless, the Prophet. It differs from the crucifixion of Jesus and the stages of his removal from the cross. The figures are the large and long-dated church from the twelfth to the thirteenth century.
9. Tokalı Church
Tokalı Church is a church building with the title of the biggest church in the region, located just outside the Göreme Open Air Museum. The Tokalı Church, built with the fresco of the Virgin Mary, which has the most beautiful beauty you've ever seen, was built in the tenth century.
Goreme Open Air Museum Entrance Fee and Visiting Hours
Your trip may take between 1.5 and 3 hours. With an entrance fee of 45 TL, Tokalı Church can be visited with this ticket even though it is outside the museum. There is an additional entrance fee for the Dark Church only. You can visit the museum Card with unlimited.
Visiting Hours
April - October period between 08.00 - 19.00 hours
