Güzelyurt

Güzelyurt was Gelveri, a Greek town until 1924, and it kept both its stone houses and its churches. The Kızıl Kilise, the red church out on the plain, is a fifth-century basilica of red-brown stone standing alone in fields, and in the town the Church of St Gregory of Nazianzus - the fourth-century theologian was from this district - was converted into the Büyük Kilise Camii and retains its Byzantine structure under Ottoman use. Below the town runs Manastır Vadisi, Monastery Valley, a gorge four kilometres long with dozens of rock-cut churches and dwellings along its walls, walkable end to end in a couple of hours with a stream and poplars on the floor. There is an underground city too, and a museum in an old house. It is on the quiet side of Cappadocia, an hour from the Göreme valleys, and it gets a small share of the traffic.

What's there

• Monastery Valley - the gorge and its rock-cut churches.
• The Kızıl Kilise - the red stone basilica out on the plain.
• The converted church - St Gregory's, now a mosque.
• The stone town - Greek-era houses on the slope.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Mornings for the valley walk; the plateau is cold in winter and hot in high summer.

Good to know

Many valley churches are unlit, unmarked and hard to identify. The walk is easy but the paths are rough in places. Facilities are a few pensions and cafés; a car helps considerably.

Nearby

Selime and the Ihlara valley are close; Aksaray and the Tuz Gölü are north.

Key facts