Nevsehir

Central Anatolia, Turkey 1 tours visit here

Nevşehir is the provincial capital at the heart of Cappadocia, in Turkey's Central Anatolia region, and the administrative and transport centre for the valleys around it. Its province takes in the best-known parts of Cappadocia — Göreme, Ürgüp, Avanos and Uçhisar — and the UNESCO World Heritage site listed as Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia. The town itself is built below a rock-cut castle on a hill, and its main historic monument is the Ottoman complex of Damat İbrahim Pasha, a grand vizier born here, whose mosque, medrese, library and hamam still anchor the old centre. Beyond the city are the tufa formations known as fairy chimneys, the rock-cut churches and chapels of Göreme, the potteries of Avanos on the Kızılırmak river, and the underground cities of Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu. Nevşehir is more often passed through than stayed in: it holds the region's main bus terminal and gives its name to Cappadocia's airport, while most visitors sleep in Göreme, Ürgüp or Uçhisar. Hot-air balloon flights over the valleys lift off shortly after dawn and depend on the weather; spring and autumn are the most settled seasons, with hot dry summers and cold, snowy winters.