Red and pink valleys of cappadocia. List of valleys of Cappadocia: map with routes and a brief description. How to find the entrances to the valley

There are a lot of interesting places with beautiful landscapes within walking distance of Goreme. Today we will go to the Rose Valley, it will take about forty minutes to walk to it with a valiant step.
We did not go along the road, but through the rocks and vegetable gardens, here and there the remains of the former “apartments” cut into the rock were visible:

In Cappadocia, the way of life has not changed for centuries, so in some places you can find hay:

Gostly Village:

I'm going down. As the smartest, I took off my jacket, because even though it was January, it was hot and I carried everything with me. Climbing along the gullies was terribly not convenient with this luggage:

As in the case of walking along the Valley of Love, local dogs again followed us here. This time it's a romantic couple:

Turkish male posing with a Russian girl:

The rock cones are already much larger here:

And almost every one has a “door” cut into it:

Village:

Neighborhood:

Dense urban development:

Office building:

Townhouses:

Here is beauty, like frozen lava flows. Find me for one in this photo:

Springboard between two rocks to jump into the abyss by car:

Here, in the neighborhood, there are gardens near almost every high cliff:

Sometimes there is a feeling that the inhabitants only a couple of hours ago ran away from the plantations underground, leaving the message of their sickly scrub. Here are the goats in the garden. By the way, apples and grapes are still not harvested, as in the previous valley - the Valley of Love:

A rock with a face that has made lips into a tube and whistles:

Inside each rock there are "apartments" that you can freely enter:

And plenty of climbing inside. By the way, it is quite difficult to crawl along the local stone devices in order to climb vertically upwards. You have to be a rock climber or Roman Kholodov:

Now who will appear from that high window?

Oops… Aboriginal:

Says hello to Russia and steps down:

We go up the path:

In the background is a hut. I have always wondered why the local stonemasons and monks cut exactly rectangular entrances and made rectangular caves inside the rock:

After all, if they were heated by fire, then the smoke inside such a hut was immeasurable:

Tatiana:

At the very top of the mountain lay an old refrigerator. We sat on it, rested and fed the dogs. Dogs even eat muesli, by the way.
Ilya:

From the hill there was a beautiful view of Rose Valley. Why Pink? But the devil knows, probably, a romantic local resident called her that because of the color of these rocks at sunset:

Prayer spread over many kilometers again:

And we began to descend with the dogs:

Down there, the gorge went deep into the forest, hiding behind sheer cliffs - this was the end of the Blue Valley:

That's where we're heading, if only we could go down:

The descent was so steep that I sometimes slipped in my sneakers, as if on skis:

So we went down pretty quickly:

Ilya and Roman, like two Russian bears, climbed to invade another stone dwelling:

Which with all its appearance looked like a mansion:

Ahead is the Blue Valley. I don't remember exactly, but let it be Pink:

Friends, hello everyone!

Not everyone will see the light at the end of the tunnel, but only those who decide to go through it to the end. In addition to tunnels, here you will find manholes, ascents and descents along metal stairs and hollowed out steps, as well as gorgeous views, observation platforms and the opportunity to run through the hills and hills for races with a GPS signal.

What could be better?

If this alignment suits you and after analyzing your capabilities and time frame, you are still in business, then I invite you to the Red Valley of Goreme.

All on the road!

Red Valley is the flagship of the local range of winding trails and deserves the most attention. If I were sharply limited on all fronts and given to choose a valley, but only the most that neither is one, then I would choose the Red Valley.

Why? I think this is the most diverse, active, interesting and multi-way valley in Goreme. Here you can find a church, and climb stairs, and jogging through the tunnels, and crawl out to the most spectacular area in the Goreme district - Aktepe Hill.

The Red Valley, along with the Rose Valley and the Meskendir Valley, are part of the same gorge. In fact, there are a lot of transitions between them at different levels, which is sometimes difficult to determine which one you are exactly in.

Schematically, everything looks like this: from the track with open air museum the first is the Meskendir valley, then the Red one, and then the Pink one.

Accordingly, in order to avoid confusion and hesitation in the course of action, it is better to go through them as a complex.

The Red Valley itself stands out from the surrounding landscape with the color of its baked stones in the upper part of the valley. Climbing here you can perfectly explore all the nearby surroundings with landscape dead ends in Uchisar And Cavushine .

Where is the entrance to the valley

Due to its non-standard shape and unauthorized flow into neighboring valleys, the Red Valley has several entrances.

The easiest and fastest way to get into it is from Sabel Valley (Kılıçlar), as I did. After passing through the Sabel Valley, we will go down to a roadside cafe, where even cars can frolic. Here we will go to the right - opposite to the movement to Chavushin. I will describe this part of the route in more detail below.
My exit from the Red Valley and the entrance of the same name from the side Cavusin cemeteries . You can get here bypassing the Pink Valley, or you can also through it, since it will separate Chavushin and the Red Valley with its pinkish body.
The third entrance will lie through Meskendir valley . The main thing here is that your legs do not tremble and you do not turn ahead of time on the Goreme-Ortahisar highway off-road in the Sabel Valley area, as in the first paragraph. We pass from this turn 1 km further along the road past the Open Air Museum and in the camping area turn left towards the valleys.
You can go down to the Red Valley from the observation deck hill Aktepe . Getting to Sunset point on the paved road by taxi, and from there there are at least 3 descents into the Red Valley: the 1st immediately from the barrier and 2 others a little further.

How to navigate the area

If when passing the Pigeon Valley or the Valley of Love, there is no need to know the route, then with the Red Valley everything is completely different. It's not as straight as the two mentioned, and not as see-through as Saber Valley.

Therefore, be sure to take GPS devices with you or plan more time for the passage, taking into account the “Ale, Zhenya, hello, it seems I'm lost!”.

I will give you the landmarks of my route, but keep in mind that it is not the only one here and if time permits, be sure to strengthen it with a couple of hooks and a few ups and downs from the valley. So your impressions will be much brighter.

I know people who come here not for the first time and still manage to find places in the Red Valley where they could not wander before.

Valley route

So, you and I are next to the store by the road, to which we descended along the ledge path from the Sabel Valley. To the left is Chavushin, right in front of us is the Pink Valley, and to the right are the Krasnaya and Meskendir valleys.

We go to the right and do not follow the 1st sign with the Red Valley sign, otherwise you will shorten the route and not see much.

Our turning will be next to the left, after about 600 meters from the store. Here, if you do not turn, then you will find yourself in the Meskendir valley.

You and I find ourselves in the lower part of the valley, where you will meet with bushes, thickets, strange and unusual tunnels and a tea house of one of the locals.

Here and there, red arrows on the stones will come across, which in a deserted space will remind you that you are not alone here.

Coolness and silence reigns at the bottom of the valley. There are no special species here, so the route is more like an ecological path.

There are not only breathtaking views on all 4 sides, but the freedom to choose your own path. Somewhere nearby, as it turned out, is located grape church .

Here you are already, so to speak, on a horse and you will see which path you choose. Along the way, arrows will continue to accompany you, so do not get lost.

Most importantly, when descending to the road leading to Chavushin, I recommend not to cut back. This eventually led me to someone's dug-up garden, which turned out to be not so easy to get through. I also take into account the factor that my climbing might seem unethical to the owner.

Distance and time to pass

Take from 1 to 3 hours to the Red Valley, depending on your limits and interests. As I already wrote, there is something to do here, where to climb and from where to take gorgeous photographs. Do not rush to run through the valley, as there is an opportunity to miss the most interesting.

The minimum distance to cross the valley is 1.5-2 km, which can be stretched to indefinite values.

Those who are not here for the first time, to save time, reach the Aktepe hill by taxi, and from there they go straight down to the valley.

What is interesting in the valley

The valley is rich in a variety of viewpoints, various cone-shaped peaks, long and short tunnels and metal stairs, as well as stairs carved in sandstone. If you are well prepared, you have comfortable shoes and a partner, you can explore even those places that are seemingly impassable.

It may be impossible to get to Aktepe Hill in winter, but you should be careful in summer too. But if you like bird's-eye views, and also want to see the Erciyes volcano, then you need to climb.

There are a couple of small churches in Red Valley. Üzümlü Grape Church , I didn’t find it, because I didn’t know about its existence, but I visited another church, in which I shot this video.

True, to be honest, whether it belongs territorially to the Red Valley or the Pink Valley, I have no idea.

In the direction of the Rose Valley there is also HaclI Church Or the Church of the Crusaders.

Cafe and shelter along the way

In the Red Valley, I personally managed to find 3 cafes. Perhaps there are even more.

Güllüdere Tea Garden, where I knocked over a glass of orange juice.
Café Teria on a hill in a very beautiful and unusual place between the Red and Rose Valley.
A large cafe by the road at the crossroads between the road to Chavushin, the path to the Rose Valley and the direction to the Red Valley.

Which valleys can be combined with the route

Even if you are not plotting anything, then even automatically your walk will smoothly flow from the Red Valley to the Pink Valley. The only thing here is up to you, you will take the opportunity and go through the Rose Valley completely or decide that you have had enough and hook only part of it.

The nearby Meskendir Valley and the Sabel Valley also yearn for your attention. And, as we have already said, the observation deck on the Aktepe hill is quickly accessible from certain places in the Red Valley.

You can strengthen the route by visiting the Goreme Open Air Museum and the fortress in the village of Chavushin.

I will write more about full-fledged combinations of valleys in Cappadocia for the whole day in a separate article.

Meskendir Valley, Red, Pink, Swords located near the foot of the hill, which rises above, and which is visible from many points, which serves as a good guide.

We read about the origin of the landscape of Cappadocia in

This route covers Meskendir valleys, Red, Pink, Swords, those. nearby valleys , which are located at the foot of Aktepe.

Valleys Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords on the map

Meskendir, Red and Pink valleys on the map of Cappadocia (clickable map)

Designations on the map:

Goreme Open Air Museum
Aynaly Church
Kaya Camping
Descent to the Meskendir valley
Meskendir Church
red valley
grape church
Aktepe
Church of Dirikli
pink valley
Khachli Church
Church of St. Thomas
Church of Agenothangelios
Chavushin
Valley of Swords

How to get to the Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords valley on your own from Goreme

The valleys of Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords are in the vicinity. It is very easy to get to the valleys of Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords from Goreme on foot. The road to the valleys starts from the turn to Goreme open air museum (1). Next, go past the Flintstone guesthouse towards the Goreme Open Air Museum. On the way, there will be a valley of swords on the left. Further along the highway, rising higher and higher, you will reach the descent into the Meskendir valley.

Sights and photos of the Meskendir valley, Red, Pink, Swords

In addition to stunning multi-colored landscapes, bizarre weathered forms, rock churches have been preserved in the Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords valleys. Inspection can be started from the Valley of Swords, and making a circle, passing through the Red and Pink valleys, exit through the Meskendir valley. You can do the same in reverse. Consider the option below if you are starting

AynalI Church

Meskendir Valley (4)

Next, you need to return to the highway and move forward to Kaya Camping (3). Behind him, on the left, there will be a descent with a sign “ Meskendir vadisi 4400 m” . Well, actually, get down and go. The only thing I will add is that the first part of the path is better to go along the top of the gorge, and not go down to its bottom. There is a stream there. It can be very dirty, and it will be simply impossible to pass during the “water” period, because. it turns into a small river. In addition, the churches are at the top.

Meskendir Church (5)

Red Valley (KIZILÇUKUR)

The road along the Meskendir valley leads to a spur called red valley(6), according to the colors prevailing here.

Üzumlu Church

Üzümlü Church, i.e. Grape, or St. Nikitas (7). The church has one apse. At the back of the nave is a niche with tombs. The name "St. Nikitas" received the name of the Stylite Nikitas who once lived here. And Grape - according to the painting on the ceiling from the Bolba period with icon painting. The church arose in the 8th century. There are also frescoes familiar to us. Similar frescoes can be seen in,

Then you can climb to the very top along the path to the hill Aktepe(8), or as this place is also called Sunset point. It is very good to meet the sunset here, because the valleys A all at a glance. And the play of light is very clearly visible on rocks that are unreal in color. But even without sunset, the view is very beautiful.

Rose Valley (GÜLLÜDERE)

If you go down again from Aktepe, but keep to the right, then you can go to one of the spurs Rose Valley (10).

At the very beginning, on the border with the Red Valley, there is Derikli church(9). The church is big enough. It's dark inside, so a flashlight won't hurt. Some rooms are connected by tunnels. On some of them you can only move on your haunches. There are no frescoes inside.

There are several other churches in Rose Valley: Ayvalı Kilise , Sütunlu Kilise , Annayua

Rose Valley Photos

From Derikli you can go to the spur, which is to the left (there is another church). In the spur to the right there are 3 more churches: Church of Haçli (Khachli). (eleven)

Church of St. Thomas(12), which, in my opinion, is forever closed by an iron door and Church of Agenothangelios, in which frescoes have been preserved (13)

Valley of Swords (Kiliçlar)

Further along the spur we return to the continuation of the road from Meskendir. And here you are at a crossroads. If you have the strength, then you can go to Chavushin (14). If there is no strength, then through the valley of the Swords Kiliçlar (15) you return home. This is the valley that is on the left as you walked towards the Goreme Museum. There are wild churches, on some the frescoes are barely visible.

Cappadocian sphinx

As a result, you find yourself again on the road leading to the Goreme Museum.

Places that can be combined with the Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords valleys

How to find the entrances to the valley

First option. From Cavusin, from the rock fortress, we go towards Goreme through the cemetery (300 meters from the fortress to the cemetery). 300 meters after the end of the cemetery there will be a fork - you need the road that goes to the left. Approximately 400 meters from the fork to the left will be the entrance to the Rozovaya-1 valley, and after another 500 meters - the entrance to the Rozovaya-2 valley. Each of the entrances is marked with a waystone. Near the entrance to the Rozovaya-2 spur there is a roadside seasonal cafe.
Second option. From Göreme through the Sabel Valley. We pass the Sabel Valley: how to do it,. We go down the hill to the dirt road where the cafe is located. There is a crossroads of several roads here. There will be a direct entrance to the Rozovaya-2 valley. If you go left towards Chavushin, then after 500 meters there will be a right turn into the Rozovaya-1 valley. The entrances are marked with waystones.
Third option. Through . Closer to the Aktepe mountain (hill) there will be signs to the Rose Valley from the Red Valley.
Fourth option. The trail, just like for the Red Valley, starts from the Sunset observation deck on Aktepe Hill. You can get to the observation deck in the following way. We move from Goreme on the road to Ortahisar (3 km). Then we turn left onto the road to Urgup and get to another left turn to the observation deck (0.6 km). Now we are moving straight along this road for 2 km. The total distance from Goreme to the Sunset site is almost 6 km. Usually they get here either by hitchhiking () or by taxi.

Important! Read general recommendations for visiting all valleys: .

Valley passage time: if you don't rush, it will take about 2-2.5 hours. Usually a visit to the valley is combined with a walk through the Meskendir valley and the Red Valley, sometimes they capture the Sabel Valley.

More often they do it this way: first they pass the first, most interesting part of the Meskendir valley (see), then they go to the Red Valley and from it they go to Pink-2 or Pink-1. After that, you can go to the fortress in Cavusin or return to Goreme through the Saber Valley.

Also, by the way, a good option is to enter through the first spur (Pink-1), and exit through the second (Pink-2).

In general, the Pink Valley is inconvenient because it is not straight, like, say, a valley or, and therefore, in order to completely pass it, you need to walk along the same paths several times in order to visit all sorts of branches. But in general, few people do so - they simply choose one of the spurs and go through it, believing that the Pink Valley has been visited.

Churches of the Rose Valley (Güllüdere, Güllüdere)

Church of the Three Crosses dated to the 9th-10th century. It got its name from the three crosses carved into the ceiling. The church has frescoes.
Quince Church or Ayvalı Church (Ayvalı Kilise) dates back to the 10th century. It is located about 1 km from the entrance to the Rozovaya-2 valley, if you go from the Meskendir valley. The church consists of two chapels, one of which was a tomb. Frescoes have been preserved in the church, but, unfortunately, you won’t be able to see them, because it is closed to the public.
Church with a Cross or Khachli Church (Haçlı Kilise) dates back to the 10th century. The church is located near a seasonal cafe. It is famous for its flat ceiling, on which a large cross is carved. The church is located at the top - a wooden staircase leads to it.
Church of Saints Joachim and Anna (Joachaim-Anna Kilise) dates from the 7th century. It is located about 600 meters from the entrance to the Rozovaya-2 valley, if you go from the Meskendir valley. The church is locked, it is not possible to visit it. On both sides of the church there are two small chapels - it is believed that this could be a monastery complex. One of the chapels, presumably, served as a tomb.
Church with columns Direkli (Direkli Kilise) dates back to the 11th century. A large church, the premises of which are connected by tunnels. The frescoes inside have not been preserved. Located about 400 meters from the Church of Saints Joachim and Anna, or 1 km from the entrance to the Rozovaya-2 valley, if you enter from the Meskendir valley.

Updated 04/27/2017

Hello everyone and welcome to the pages of the blog "Light on the rise"!

I continue my story about the independent. The next few articles will be devoted to the most interesting region, where I spent three whole days - Cappadocia. I guarantee you that here you will generally forget that you are now in Turkey and in general on planet Earth. Cappadocia looks like another planet.

Do you like hiking and unusual natural landscapes? Then welcome!

In addition to beautiful photos and descriptions of the area, I will try to give more information and technical points for those who plan to visit Cappadocia on one's own. If you did not find the information you are interested in on the blog, then ask clarifying questions in the comments. I will gladly answer them.

Why in Cappadocia so eager travelers? And you hammer the name of the area into any search engine and look at the photos.

With its unusual landscape Cappadocia owes to volcanoes, winds and rains. The mountains here do not look like mountains ... rather, they are bizarre sculptures in which animals, mushrooms and other objects are guessed, including indecent ones :). Some travelers describe the scenery as "lunar".

Special chic in Cappadocia it is considered to meet the dawn in the basket of a balloon rising up.

An amazing sight, isn't it?

This photo is not mine:). From the Internet.

When planning a trip to Turkey, I could not make a decision for a long time ... How many days to “give away” to Istanbul, and how many to Cappadocia? As a result, I gave preference to Cappadocia - two days for and three days for Cappadocia.

How to get to Cappadocia?

Cappadocia can be reached by plane and by bus. If you want to save time and money, and you are not afraid of long bus journeys, then at any bus station you can buy a ticket for an intercity bus and take a night flight to the town Goreme, which is the center of Cappadocia. The center is very conditional, as there are several other cities where a traveler can also stay. However, for the first visit to Cappadocia, Goreme fits perfectly.

I will write about Turkish buses, as I had the good fortune to try this method of transportation :). The main disadvantage of bus travel is the inability to book a ticket online. I love surprises, but not when I'm in a foreign country. That is why I traveled to Cappadocia by air.

Air traffic with bizarre terrain is pretty stable. There are two airports: Nevsehir and Kayseri. As you can see, Nevsehir is much closer to Goreme than Kayseri.

What surprised me was the fact that the overnight bus transfer from Istanbul to Cappadocia costs almost the same as the flight.

In one of the articles, I already said that flights are very cheap. For example, I randomly poked at Skyscanner on May 27th. Flight Istanbul - Kayseri costs some 1054 rubles. Funny money.

Flight Istanbul - Nevsehir costs twice as much (crazy money), as much as 2004 rubles :). I think that in this case the problem is in the carrier. Pegasus flies to Kayseri and Turkish Airlines flies to Nevsehir.

Flight Istanbul - Kayseri lasts 1 hour 20 minutes. At the airport, I was already met by an uncle with a sign on which my name was written. Always dreamed of such a privilege :).

I booked a transfer to the hotel in advance, while still at home. I just emailed the hotel, clarified the cost of the transfer and confirmed the order. From Kayseri Airport to the hotel you will be delivered for 25 liras (500-650 rubles, depending on the exchange rate). Travel time - 1 hour. Of course, it was possible to get to the bus station in Kayseri, wait for an intercity bus to Nevsehir or Goreme, and then cut who knows how long to the destination. In this case, the savings were absolutely unjustified.

Kayseri met me warmly and sunnyly. After windy and rainy Istanbul, this weather was just what we needed!

The jacket immediately went into the suitcase, and after it the jacket.

While I was waiting for all the tourists who had booked a transfer to Goreme, I looked around a bit. An unknown mountain was visible on the horizon. If I understood everything correctly, this is the former Edzhiyars volcano. Perhaps he was responsible for the formation of a specific landscape.

Despite the fact that I didn’t get enough sleep, it was simply impossible to doze off on the way. The road was surrounded by unusual "hills" on both sides. The driver helpfully slowed down near each such attraction, in unison with the enthusiastic sighs of my fellow travelers :).

The hotel itself and its owner require separate attention and a separate article, so I will deliberately not clutter up the post with a description of the hotel in Goreme. I can only say that the owner of the hotel turned out to be MEGA hospitable. Not only did he take me to the bus station absolutely free of charge and help me buy a ticket to Pamukkale, he also showed me an excellent observation deck and arranged a small walking tour to the Rose Valley (also free of charge).

While I and other tourists were being settled in the hotel, I kept trying to see Göreme through the window.

Photo from the hotel terrace. The weather is gorgeous!

In addition to ordinary houses in the city, there are also buildings made of tufa. This is a volcanic rock in which houses are “hollowed out”. Tufa is easy to process.

From the observation platform you can see Göreme at a glance.

And on the other side of the observation platform there is a valley with bizarre natural sculptures.

For some reason, Yandex maps show the intricacies of the streets of Goreme in more detail than Google.

No. 1 - an observation deck that offers a nice view of Goreme.
No. 2 - observation deck on the Small Valley of Love (5 minutes walk from No. 1).

By the way, on this trip, the application helped me out again. Universal maps show hotels, cafes, viewing platforms and even hiking trails in the mountains. Just do not forget to download them to your smartphone in advance.

At 15.00 Jay (the owner of the hotel) scheduled the start of the excursion to the Rose and Red Valley and I had very little time left for lunch.

While I wandered around the city center in search of a decent eatery, I got the impression that Göreme was just getting ready for the influx of tourists. Some cafes look abandoned, while others, on the contrary, are being actively repaired and put in order.
My first lunch in the city looked like this.

I ordered Chorba soup, salad and tea. Lunch cost me 14 liras (soup 5 liras, salad 6 liras and tea 3 liras). I won’t say that I was stunned by the unknown taste, but it turned out quite tolerably and satisfyingly.
In addition to the fact that Göreme looked a bit abandoned, the city was very dusty. It is understandable, there are practically no trees in the district. But the wind cheerfully sows whitish tuff dust.

The second floor of the cafe looks like a junk shop :). What is not here.

As I said above, the owner of the hotel organized a free tour for new guests. In addition to me, a group of Chinese students checked into the hotel. The guys are so smart and noisy that I involuntarily compared them with puppies on a walk :). The youth from China turned out to be very sociable, they asked me everything and did not forget to tell about themselves. In the meantime, the guys even learned a couple of words in Russian ... well, they really asked me :).

Walk around Goreme.

By car "a la" jeep, our team was thrown to the point where the route starts. But first, the driver skillfully braked in front of a gorgeous view. For the story, we posed for a bit and jumped in front of the photo lens, pretending that we were “happy!”. It seems that capturing yourself jumping in front of a landmark is one of the most beloved Chinese pastimes.

Actually, we then stomped there on foot.

Surprisingly, in these places you can absolutely freely enter the ancient church ... of the eleventh century. Even the frescoes are partially visible.

Do you see a crocodile in the photo?

The rocks around are soft pink. Hence the name of the valley.

How long, how short, did we come to an ancient dwelling, the entrance to which is quite extreme.

Our whole company climbed the steep slope to look into the ancient halls.

I do not know for what purpose deep niches were hollowed out in the wall. I hope that it was a sideboard for storing utensils, and not an ancient crypt.

And some more interior decoration.

We continue the path. We pass through the rock. Our guide jokes that someday this hulk will collapse. The main thing is that this does not happen now.

And then a surprise awaited us. There will be no way back. We must climb up, holding on to the rope. I weakly tried to protest in English that I was an old, sick woman, but I was cheerfully pushed in the back and told that I was well preserved.

But what gorgeous views from the top.