Writer: Yavuz İşçen
May 2008

Uçhisar Castle has been carved in the middle of two adjacent tapered. The bigger of them is called “Castle of Ağa” and the smaller one is called “Castle of Çavuş”. The altitude of the Castle is 1400 m. If you add the height of the Castle which is 50 m, to this height, you will be on the highest point of the region where you may have the panoramic view of Cappadocia as well as it is the only point where you may see Erciyes Mountain (3917 m) and Hasan Mountain (3268 m), two of the most important elevations of the region, in the same frame.

No need to hurry up, you may climb up with breaks
As you enter Uçhisar Castle you will be welcomed by the kind of balls made of rocks. It is very pleasing that these stones, which were prepared carefully to be thrown to the enemies in case of need, were able to reach today. After the entrance you need to climb up the stairs till the top of the Castle. The Castle has a multiplex looking and on every floor it has rooms, graves and various tunnels to be used for different purposes. The edges of the tunnels were covered by big round shape stones called as latch stone.
As you reach to the top of the Castle, the first attractive thing is the cistern. In order to provide water to the Castle during long lasting enclosures, a tunnel was dig towards Karankemer Stream which is flowing under. Since today most parts of the tunnel were collapsed and plugged, it is impossible to see it. The other attractiveness of the Castle is the grave cavities. The grave cavities, known that go back to Byzantine period, have been carved into the rocks abreast. In addition, the Castle has an underground shelter to be used in case of war by the locals living around the Castle. It is known that the underground shelter can be reached through three different tunnels.

Note: This article has been published in Peribacası Cappadocia Culture and Publicity Magazine, May 2008 issue. It is under protection of the copyrights of the magazine. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by electronic, mechanical or other means without prior permission from the owner. www.cappadociaexplorer.com