Goreme Open Air Museum
Göreme open air museum has been one of the important places where Christianity was practiced throughout history. It contains the best preserved churches in the Cappadocia region. The fact that it was included in the list of world cultural heritage in 1985 shows how important this historical place is. It was built by the bishop of Kayseri, St. Basil, in the 4th century AD. St. Basil received his education both in Istanbul and in Athena and educated himself in many branches. He served as a missionary in Egypt and was very impressed by the paintings that people made on the wall there, and when he returned to Cappadocia, the fact that the people here were from different cultures, believed in different religions and were illiterate, prompted him to perform wall paintings in Cappadocia. He applied the first examples in the Göreme open air museum and invited people to Christianity. He also started the monastic life in the Cappadocia region by bringing Christians together and even became the person who brought the understanding of community to Christianity. Even today, every Orthodox church is worshiped with the congregation on Sundays, thanks to St. Basil. Göreme open-air museum consists not only of churches, but also of dining halls, dormitories and cemeteries. Religious knowledge was taught here, he contributed to the church by selling his own products and served as a hospital. Göreme open-air museum also contains the dark church, which is the best preserved church in the region. About eighty percent of the murals in this church are in very good condition. If you want to witness history, you should definitely visit this museum.
Love Valley
Actually, the real name of this valley is Baglidere. The valley of love was overflowing with streams in the previous periods, which caused people to concentrate their agricultural work in this valley, and vineyard and garden works were generally seen here. This place, which is full of vineyards and streams, was named as Baglidere. Afterwards, these streams dried up and became the meeting place of lovers. As you know, in the old Turkish culture, it was not possible for you to meet with your girlfriend, to walk hand in hand in public, even when you were going to ask for a girl, your family had to be with you, and it was very difficult to meet with your girlfriend in public. . In the meantime, these lovers found a way to send news to their lovers, and they met in this valley, which is far from the city and the crowd, which caused the valley to be called the valley of love.
St. Hieron's Chapel
The chapel is on the Uçhisar road, the importance of the chapel is that it was built in the name of Hieron, who was born in Göreme and an important national soldier – saint for his region. Although the information about him is not certain, the most common belief is that his hand was sent to his mother after he was martyred in Malatya with his 32 friends. According to another rumor, he managed to escape without being martyred and was hidden in one of the cave wine cellars in his hometown. Apart from the chapel built in his name, a large military picture wall was engraved in the Direkli Church in the village of Belisırma in the Ihlara valley in Tokalı Church, which is affiliated to the Göreme open-air museum. It is rumored that Göreme's later name, Maccan, was the name of Aziz Hieron's mother, and after his mother died, the people of Göreme gave his mother's name to the place where they lived, out of love and respect for the saint.
