Ortahisar

Ortahisar - middle castle - has the same arrangement as Uçhisar on a smaller scale: a tall rock outcrop full of cut chambers rising out of the middle of a village, climbable by stairs for a view over the valleys and Mount Erciyes. What makes the village worth more than the climb is what happens underneath it. The tuff keeps a stable cool temperature and humidity year-round, and Ortahisar's cave cellars have been used for generations as commercial cold storage - lemons and oranges from the Mediterranean coast, potatoes from Niğde and elsewhere are trucked here and stored in rock chambers, and the trade is still working, with lorries in the streets and crates going underground. It is one of the few places in Cappadocia where the caves are doing an economic job rather than housing a hotel. The village square has old houses and tea gardens, and the surrounding valleys - Kızılçukur and Balkan Deresi - are quiet walking country.

Highlights

• The rock citadel - the outcrop and its stairway climb.
• The storage caves - working cold stores full of citrus and potatoes.
• The village square - stone houses and tea gardens.
• The valley walks - Kızılçukur and Balkan Deresi nearby.

When to go

April to June and September to November. The storage trade is busiest in autumn and winter when the crops come in.

What to expect

The rock climb is steep with drops and it closes in bad weather. The cellars are commercial premises, not attractions - you see the trade in the streets, not inside. The village is quieter and plainer than Göreme.

Nearby

Ürgüp is six kilometres east; Göreme and the Red and Rose valleys are north-west.