More than 200 rock-cut churches are part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia; some contain numerous frescoes. Together with underground cities, ancient monuments and landscapes, the destinations featured here offer different starting points for a journey through Türkiye. When planning your time, a thematic perspective can help: rock architecture and crafts offer a different focus from ancient history or Pamukkale’s natural and cultural heritage.

Rock Architecture and Crafts in Cappadocia

The Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia World Heritage site also includes two underground cities and five rock-cut villages. The entire area between Nevşehir, Ürgüp and Avanos is designated as a national park. Churches, underground cities and rock villages draw attention to different facets of the region—from structures carved into rock to entire settlements.

Crafts are also part of Cappadocia’s character: the region has handmade silk and wool carpets. The clay there is valued by the surrounding pottery workshops. Alongside the historic buildings, this brings textile crafts and pottery into focus as cultural themes. Slowly rising hot air balloons also shape Cappadocia’s skyline. Rock formations, craft traditions and the balloons offer different ways to picture the region.

Ancient History and Early Monumental Structures

Troy has a history stretching back 4,000 years. The site lies on Hisarlık Hill, overlooking the plain on Türkiye’s Aegean coast. Literary tradition also shapes the history of Troy: Homer immortalized the siege by Spartan and Achaean warriors from Greece in the Iliad. It has inspired significant artists around the world ever since. A visit to Troy thus connects the named site with a story whose influence extends far beyond antiquity.

At Ephesus, the Library of Celsus is one of the notable monuments from the Roman Imperial period along the ancient processional street. At the same time, pilgrimage to Ephesus continues to this day. The monument and the continuing pilgrimage offer two different perspectives on the same place: the architecture of the Roman Imperial period and a religious practice that is still observed.

At Göbekli Tepe, even earlier monumental structures take center stage. Groups of hunter-gatherers built them during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, in the 10th to 9th millennium BC. A covered visitor walkway surrounds the excavation site. Check the latest visitor information before your visit, as operational details may change. Compared with the Roman Imperial period at Ephesus, the early date of Göbekli Tepe shows how far apart the time periods represented by these cultural sites are.

Natural and Cultural Heritage at Pamukkale

The travertines are part of the natural heritage of the Hierapolis-Pamukkale UNESCO World Heritage complex; the ancient city of Hierapolis is also part of the complex, which encompasses both natural and cultural heritage. The landscape and the ancient city therefore sit alongside one another within the same World Heritage complex. Other attractions in the Pamukkale region include the thermal springs of Karahayıt and the Bağbaşı Plateau. The Hierapolis Archaeology Museum is also a stop on a Pamukkale route.

Olive Groves and Traditional Processing

The Olive Route in Türkiye offers visits to olive groves and olive presses. These include observing traditional methods of crushing olives and extracting olive oil, as well as tasting local olives. Here, the focus is not on ancient buildings but on olives, their processing and the visits associated with them. The route thus complements cultural and historical themes with a different approach: getting to know local olives and observing traditional oil-making methods.

Discover more destinations: Turkish Riviera, Türkiye’s Black Sea Coast, Turkish Aegean, Anatolia, Marmara, North Korea, United Arab Emirates, Armenia.

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