Shopping in Cappadocia

Shopping in Cappadocia is nearly always tied to craft rather than to a mall. The main address is Avanos on the Kızılırmak river, where pottery has held on since Hittite times: the red clay is taken straight from the river, and the masters still work a kick wheel rather than an electric one. The workshops run classes: first they demonstrate, then they sit the guest at the wheel, and the piece you shape can be collected after firing or sent on by courier.

The second layer is stone and cloth. Nearby workshops cut onyx and alabaster into bowls and chess sets; carpet co-operatives demonstrate the double knot and the difference between wool and silk, explaining why the price varies several times over. Sold separately are dried apricots, grape pekmez and local wine from the volcanic slopes — it is bottled in cellars cut into tuff.

Points to note. A masterclass takes an hour or two and is folded into some excursion programmes, though more often it is bought separately. The finished piece has to be fired, so collecting it the same day is not always possible — check the timing in advance. In the shops attached to workshops haggling is normal; in the co-operatives prices are usually fixed. Cash in lira works more simply on site than a card.