Çavuşin
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Çavuşin

Çavuşin

Cappadocian cave village built around a cliff face of abandoned dwellings and early frescoed churches.

Çavuşin is one of the oldest settlements in Cappadocia, a small village on the road between Goreme and Avanos. It is built around a dramatic cliff face riddled with cave dwellings that were inhabited until rockfalls forced evacuation in the 1960s.

The Church of St John the Baptist, carved into the cliff at the top of the old village, has some of the oldest frescoes in Cappadocia and offers a panoramic view across the valley. The Çavuşin Church (also called the Nicephorus Phocas Church) near the main road has well-preserved 10th-century paintings depicting biblical scenes and Byzantine military saints.

The village is much quieter than nearby Goreme and makes a good base for walks into the surrounding valleys — Pasabag (Monks Valley) with its fairy chimneys is a short walk north, and the Red and Rose Valleys begin at the southern edge of the village.

Guide

Day Trips

Çavuşin is well placed for exploring the rest of Cappadocia. Göreme, with its open-air museum of rock-cut churches, is a short walk south. Uçhisar, dominated by its rock fortress and excellent for sunset, is about 6 km southwest. Avanos, the pottery town on the Kızılırmak river, is 5 km to the north.

Further afield, the underground city of Derinkuyu (about 40 km south) and the Ihlara Gorge with its rock-cut churches (about 80 km southwest) both make rewarding full-day trips. The Mount Erciyes ski area east of Kayseri is the option for winter visitors.

Guide

Eating Out

Çavuşin has a handful of small restaurants and cave-converted boutique hotels with their own dining rooms. The local specialities are the Cappadocian ones: testi kebabı (lamb or beef stewed inside a sealed clay pot that is broken open at the table), manti (small lamb-filled dumplings with garlic yoghurt), and meze plates of local cheese, dried apricots, and wild greens.

A few places worth knowing about: Old Greek House does honest village cooking in a restored stone house; Anatolian Kitchen offers a slightly more polished menu with garden seating. For something simpler, the village bakery sells fresh flatbread and the small grocery shop has hard local cheese, olives, and grapes.

Guide

Getting There

Çavuşin sits on the main road between Göreme and Avanos, about 3 km north of Göreme and 5 km south of Avanos. The closest airports are Nevşehir (NAV), about 35 km west, and Kayseri (ASR), about 80 km east. Both have several flights a day to and from Istanbul.

There is no train service. From Göreme or Avanos, a dolmuş (shared minibus) runs along the main road and will stop at Çavuşin on request. Most visitors arrive by rental car or by taxi from one of the larger Cappadocian towns. Walking from Göreme through the Red Valley is the most rewarding way to arrive on a clear day.

Guide

Things to Do

For such a small place, Çavuşin packs a surprising amount in. The old village, climbing up the cliff face in tiers of cave dwellings, is itself the main sight. Two important rock-cut churches sit nearby; the Pasabag fairy chimneys are a short walk north; and the Red and Rose valleys begin at the edge of the village, making it one of the best starting points for walks in central Cappadocia.

Guide

When to Go

Cappadocia is best in late spring (May, early June) and autumn (September, October), when daytime temperatures are warm enough for walking and the air is clear for ballooning. July and August are very hot — into the 30s Celsius — and crowded, especially in Göreme and Üchisar.

Winter brings a different and very photogenic Cappadocia: the fairy chimneys frosted with snow, the valleys silent, almost no other tourists. Hot-air balloons fly less frequently and need particularly settled weather, but if you catch a clear morning the snow-and-tuff colour palette is unforgettable. Nights are cold, well below zero in mid-winter; pack accordingly.