Cappadocia’s grand canyon alluring Ihlara

This is Ihlara, the beautiful canyon that stretches for some 16 kilometers from Ihlara village, south of Aksaray, to Selime, the site of a splendid rock-cut monastery. Of course, it's fanciful to compare this relative tiddler of a gorge to the seemingly endless splendor of the real Grand Canyon, but it's a breathtaking and unforgettable sight, nonetheless, and one every visitor to Central Anatolia should try to fit into their itinerary.

    These days a visit to Ihlara forms the centerpiece of many organized tours from Cappadocia's main tourist hotspots -- Göreme, Ürgüp, Uçhisar and Avanos -- where it's usually packaged up with a visit to an underground city and to assorted panoramic viewpoints along the way. These trips take visitors down into the middle of the gorge where they walk for between three and seven kilometers, stopping for lunch near the pretty village of Belisirma. For people with limited time, such tours are ideal, taking the pain out of trying to get to Ihlara under their own steam. But for those fortunate enough to be able to linger, it's far better to set aside a couple of days to explore the gorge thoroughly, especially since rural life continues there in a way that it rarely does in the more developed parts of Cappadocia.

    The best place to kick off extended exploration of the gorge is the village of Ihlara, which boasts a defunct riverside hamam and an outsize modern mosque. There's basic accommodation in the heart of the village, along with a small restaurant and shop where you can stock up on picnic ingredients, as well as sturdier places to stay on the rim of the gorge up above. Stay the night here and you'll be perfectly placed to make an early start, allowing plenty of time to walk the length of the gorge and examine some of the churches along the way.

    It's at the Ihlara end that the canyon is at its most dramatic, and it's also at this end that you'll find most of the 60-odd churches and chapels, mainly dating from between the ninth and 13th centuries. Most are easily accessible, although a few require a bit of climbing, a tough task in the heat of high summer, so bring plenty of water. As for the path itself, while it's not specifically marked, it's rarely possible to go far wrong as it follows the course of the river, and there are only a few sections where you'll need footwear sturdy enough for scrambling over rocks.

    If you want to walk the valley in a single day you'll need to cherry-pick your churches. Heading north from Ihlara one of the first that you'll come to is the Kokar Kilise (Fragrant Church) where tombs are cut into the floor and wonderful late ninth century frescoes depict the life of Christ. Unfortunately, as elsewhere in the valley, most of the paintings closest to the ground have been damaged; in particular most of the human figures have had their eyes put out for reasons that vary according to the story-teller (religious reasons, bored children, vandals -- take your pick).

    Bypassing the Pürenli Seke Kilise (Platform Church) and the Karanlık Kilise (Dark Church, not to be confused with the better-known church of the same name in the Göreme Open-air Museum), you will come to the Sümbüllü Kilise (Hyacinth Church), once part of a large monastic complex and easy to identify because of the graceful horseshoe-shaped arches decorating its facade; inside, the late 10th-century frescoes include a fine Pantocrator and a series of images of saints including St. George, the patron saint of Cappadocia, and St. Theodore, a soldier-saint much revered during the turbulent Middle Ages when Cappadocia straddled the frontline of many power struggles.

    A little further north is the Yılanlı Kilise (Snake Church, again not to be confused with the one of the same name in Göreme) where ninth century frescoes in the narthex graphically depict the torments of hell as snakes set about their predominantly female victims. Nearby in the Ağaçaltı Kilise (Under the Tree Church) there are impressive early frescoes of the three wise men and Daniel in the lion's den. Shortly afterwards you reach the flight of 360 steps that climb up to the Ihlara Turistik Tesisleri, a shop and restaurant complex where most tour groups make their descent into the valley.

    If you keep walking northwards you will come to the Kırk Dam Altı Kilise (Under the Forty Rooms Church, otherwise known as the Church of St. George) which contains images of the donor, a local emir called Basil Giagoupes, and his wife Tamara; unusually, an inscription inside the church makes it possible to date the paintings precisely to the period between 1282 and 1304. It's also worth looking out for the Bahattın'ın Samanlığı Kilise (Bahattın's Granary Church) where 10th century frescoes of the life of Christ were partially protected when Bahattın commandeered the church to serve as his barn. Then you will fetch up beside the path that leads to Belisirma, midway along the gorge, and a cluster of restaurants beside and even in the river itself which make a perfect setting for lunch.

    If you're after a full-on Cappadocian experience you can camp in the grounds of one of the restaurants or put up in the village's one small pension. Otherwise, the path continues ever northwards, although now the walls of the canyon start to pull back from the water and you'll find yourself wandering through meadows and alongside irrigation ditches, passing the villagers who still farm the gardens and orchards here, their women picturesquely dressed in thick velvet şalvar (baggy trousers). The path eventually peters out at the village of Yaprakhisar, but it's well worth continuing a little further north to Selime where, across the road from a small Selçuk-era cemetery, a huge rock formation rises up by the roadside. This once served as a monastery with dramatic views out over the surrounding countryside. A mini-ravine of a path winds up and emerges in front of a group of rock-cut churches, and an extraordinary kitchen with a soaring chimney, uncannily reminiscent of the one to be seen amid the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey in England. The largest of the churches boasts an upstairs gallery, its floor pitted with the holes that served as tandır ovens when it was turned into accommodation at a later date. There are few better places to end a walk that is guaranteed to stand out in your memory as one of the highlights of a visit to Turkey.

HOW TO GET THERE

If you don't want to take a tour from eastern Cappadocia you can catch one of the infrequent daily buses from Aksaray to Ihlara where a hotelier may be persuaded to pick you up from the far end of the valley and bring you back to your starting point at the end of the walk. If business is slow it's sometimes possible to persuade a tour company to drop you off in Ihlara or Selime and then pick you up again the following day.

WHERE TO STAY

Akar Pansiyon, Ihlara: 0382-453 7018

Belisirma Ev Pension: 0382-457 3037

Çatlak Hotel, Selime: 0382-454 5006

Hotel Karballa, Güzelyurt: 0382-451 2104

Kayabaşı Motel, Selime: 0382-454 5565

Star Pension, Ihlara: 0382-453 7676