Art And Culture in Göreme

The rock churches of Göreme are interesting because two different eras of painting stand side by side in them. In the earliest, before the ninth century, there are no figures at all: the walls carry red ochre applied straight onto the stone — crosses, circles, simple geometric bands. This is the iconoclast period, when depicting saints was forbidden. Churches of the following period are painted on plaster, with full scenes and faces.

The frescoes survived best in the Dark Church, and the reason is prosaic: it has almost no windows, light never got in, and paint fades in the sun. Entry there costs extra on top of the museum ticket, and it is the one place where a queue can build. Beside it stand the Apple Church, the Sandal Church, and monastic refectories cut into the rock complete with tables and benches.

The Red Tour gathers these sites into one day and adds Uçhisar and the viewpoints. Practical notes: the church interiors are dark and cool year round, and flash photography is banned because it harms the pigment. Cover shoulders and knees. Entry tickets to the museum and to the Dark Church are usually not included in the tour price and are paid on site.