Avanos

Description

“If you seek, the real son of Mary is evident from the pole in his hand. The blind also knows the way to Avanos, it is obvious from the broken glass of the jug.”
Asik Seyrani

It is one of the most livable districts of Turkey, where the Kızılırmak adds character, mud turns into art, and with its democratic public structure, Turkey’s important intellectuals and people with a high university education rate.

Etymology

The earliest documented name is estimated to be Zuwinasa during the Hittite Empire. The name Zuwinasa was found during the excavations carried out in Hattusa in the 1960s. The district, which was named as Vanessa in later periods, was used as Enes or Evenez in the Ottoman Empire. It was changed to Avanos after the Republic of Turkey. The definition of the name Evenüz given in the Seljuk period is; Eveni was the name given to the pots used in the kitchen, and Evenuz meant the town where these pots and pots were made.

Geography

Avanos is an ancient city established on the banks of the Kızılırmak. The Kızılırmak is the longest river that starts and ends in Turkey. The Kızılırmak divides the district in two from east to west. This city, which is divided by Kızılırmak, is connected to each other by 4 bridges. The oldest of these is the stone bridge. Built in 1900, the bridge is 121 years old. The reason why this river is called Kızılırmak is because of the mixing of the minerals brought by the river from far away and the rich minerals in the Cappadocia region, a red clay layer was formed, which added a reddish color to the river. Avanos is a district of Nevşehir province with fertile and flat agricultural land.

Since Avanos is located on the route of the caravanserai system, which started with the Great Seljuk Empire, there is Saruhan Caravanserai, which is 5 km away from the center.

History The finds obtained during the excavations in the ruins (Zank Höyük) in the Sarılar town of the district take the history of the region back to the Bronze Age. The Potter's Wheel in the Zank Mound is dated to the Hittite period. Although not many historical remains were obtained after the Ottoman period, it has witnessed the historical process bearing the traces of Hittite, Phrygian, Persian, Assyrian, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman. M.S. Avanos, which appeared as a very rich and developed city in 18 BC, is one of the most important political and religious centers of the region. The writings of Euphrates, who served the priest of Avanos, the third man of the kingdom hierarchy, show us the existence of a very strong and powerful aristocracy in Avanos. The most important historical myth or thesis of Avanos geography is that the bridge built by Alexander in the history book of Herodotus to pass his armies to the other side of the river is located 10 km east of Avanos and on the Kızılırmak, although adequate archaeological studies have not yet started on this subject. is done.

Zelve Open Air Museum

It is located between Paşabağ and Devrent valleys. The point that makes the Zelve valley stand out is that, unlike all other Christian monastic living spots in the world, monks, priests and civilians lived together here. It also hosted the largest community in the Cappadocia region and is the longest used settlement. Although the Christian people had to leave the zelve valley due to the Lausanne Peace Treaty (population exchange) signed in 1924, the Muslim people lived here until the 1950s. Since the rock formations in the region have a spongy structure, they absorb rain water in summer, freeze in winter, and when the weather gets warmer, cracks form in the expanding rocks and when the ice starts to melt, causing large rock masses to fall. Even though the people living in the zelve valley prevented this danger of collapse for a while, the losses due to some collapses caused them to be resettled in the nearby point known as new zelve or Aktepe. This valley consists of 3 parts. It contains houses, wineries, monk cells, iconoclastic churches, many tunnels, mills, rock-hewn mosques and of course fairy chimneys, which are generally destroyed due to erosion.

Pasabaglari

One of the most important sightseeing points in our region is Paşabağları. It is one of the most beautiful spots where fairy chimney formations can be seen and offers an extraordinary view. This place, which makes you feel like in another universe, has also been a place used by the priests for seclusion and includes many hermitage rooms and chapels. The fact that the rocks are very soft and serve as a perfect camouflage has caused the people who lived here to have their homes, churches and hermitage rooms on these rock formations, and it has been a great factor for the Christian people, whose future is in danger, to live their language and culture into the future.

Özkonak Underground City

It was discovered by accident in 1970 by Latif Acar, a native of the village. While wandering around the field wondering where the water that he irrigated the field went to, Özkonak discovered a large room belonging to the underground city. Afterwards, it was organized and brought into tourism. Although the exact date of construction is not known, this underground city, which was developed by the Christians who came to the Cappadocia region to be protected from the Roman and then Arab invasion, is a large underground city consisting of 11 floors. Today, only 4 floors can be seen. Like other underground cities, there are water wells, warehouses, sliding doors, tunnels and communication channels in the underground city of Özkonak. One of the largest sliding doors in the Cappadocia region is here. Unlike other underground cities, there are no holes in the middle of the sliding doors here. These holes were made for surveillance and defense purposes. In the underground city of Özkonak, a vertical hole was opened just above the part on the enemy side when the sliding door was closed instead. When the enemy came to the door, in order to ensure the security of the underground city, hot oil was poured from these holes or with the help of a spear, the enemy was neutralized and security was ensured. Another difference is the communication tunnels. communication tunnels in this underground city are built much narrower than the others. Communication between floors is provided by these communication tunnels, which are approximately 5 cm wide. Even today, it is curious how such narrow communication tunnels were built. The Christians, who used the underground cities extensively, survived and were able to transfer their culture to the future thanks to the organized cooperation provided by these communication tunnels.