Private Blue Tour

Overview

Starting from your hotel at 9:30, we drive to Mustafapasa, famous for its beautiful architecture. Mustafapasa was one of the largest Greek towns in Cappadocia until the 1924 population exchange between Turkey and Greece. Your guide will give information on one of the biggest population exchanges in the world which caused approximately 2 million people to leave their homes. In Mustafapasa, we will see Greek mansions and churches as well as the Medrese seminary, an Islamic high school. The next stop is the Keslik Monastery, with one of the rare iconoclastic examples of Cappadocian frescoes. We will view these exceptional wall paintings and discuss the iconoclastic period (726-843 AD), in which such wall paintings were forbidden by the Byzantine Emperors. After which we will drive to Sahinefendi, to the Sobesos Excavation site. Archeologists have recently (in last 10 years) begun excavations of this area and continue to find many important artifacts. At this archeological site we can see Roman baths, tombs, basilica and mosaics. From Sahinefendi, we continue to Soganli Valley. Soganli was once the third largest monastic center in the area and boasts many cave churches and a beautiful hiking valley. Before beginning our hike, we will enjoy lunch at one of the local restaurants and see the famous Soganli dolls made by the women of this village. After our afternoon hike through the Soganli Valley we will drive back to your hotel. Along the way if you are interested in Turkish carpets we can also visit one of the local carpet workshops and view the traditional carpet-making process. Cappadocia remains the biggest carpet weaving area of Turkey.