Urgup Tourism Travel Agency

Visits Greek houses at Mustafapaşa / Sinasos, Keşlik Monastery, Cemil Armenian Church, Taşkınpasa medrese, Soğanlı Valley churches, Sobesos Roman mosaics.

Learn about the rich tapestry of Turkiye's heritage is also made up of life stories from Armenian, Greek, Roman and Byzantine cultures interwoven with the Muslim culture of the Ottoman Empire.

We pick you up from your hotel around 9:30 and drive to the charming village of Mustafapaşa. Mustafapaşa had a largely Greek population in Ottoman times and was known as Sinasos, the city of the sun. The population exchange of 1924 meant that the Greek inhabitants has to leave their houses but they have been preserved and restored and you can admire the finely carved facades and beautiful doors that they were masters at creating.

From here we take a short walk through a lovely valley to Keşlik Monastery, and see the beautiful frescoes in the chapel of  St. Michael with frescoes from the 13/14th Century. You will also see the baptismal fonts and huge refectory.
At the nearby village of Cemil your guide will show you the typical village houses and you will be able to visit the impressive Armenian church.

We drive on to Taşkınpasa which is famous for its 600-year-old Seljuk mosque. At the medrese or Ottoman seminary you can admire the intricate stonework of the door-frame.

We drive through the village of Şahinefendi and visit the archaeological site of the ancient ruins of Sobesos with its mosaics and the outer buildings which are the first traces of a Roman and Christian settlement in Cappadocia.

After lunch we continue driving south to Soğanlı Valley. Soğanlı is a quiet valley off the beaten track, with courtyard monasteries and cave churches from the 10th and 11th centuries. Christians lived here until the 15th century but the earliest ruins are Roman with their conical rock formation graves. The Byzantine monastic community then transformed them into churches. We we hike along the poplar-lined valley and visit the most remarkable churches.

At the end of our day we then drive back and drop you off at your hotel.