AKSARAY-GÜZELYURT

Writer: Ayça Olcaytu İşçen
May 2008

The Monastery Valley, which is 4 km length and starts 2 km southwest of Güzelyurt district of Aksaray, looks like very much Ihlara Valley with its engraved churches into the rocks, reaching to the sky and with its nature. One of the trekking and horse safari tracks in the region starts from Kızıl (Red) Church lies down towards Monastery Valley and after going around Güzelyurt Pond it ends at Yüksek Church.

With the instruction of our experienced guide provided by Kirkit Travel Agency, together with our friends from Güzelyurt, we hit the road on 14 November 2007 in the afternoon. We drove first to Sivrihisar Village, 6 km far away from the district and then to Kızıl (Red) Church which is 1km far away. We start trekking on 1770 m height. By moving along on a stoned area without a track, we reached to Monastery Valley with its autumn colors and beauty and the altitude decreased to 1400 m. Our guide was giving interesting information during these short breaks. For example, the Spring Festival, organized every year on 6th May, is being celebrated in Monastery Valley. The first church that welcomes us in the Valley was Kömürlü Church. And then we visited Kalburlu Church. At that point we decided to move along to the direction of Aşağı Quarter and reach to the center of district. In turn, we visited Cafarlar and Koç churches, whose frescoes can be accepted in a better shape than the other Güzelyurt churches and then we reached to Hengameci Street by passing by Cami Church. While we were going ahead on the stony road, we have glanced merchant house. The trekking, for 2 hours and 30 minutes as a total, ended at the center of the district.
  
Kirkit Travel Agency
Kirkit Travel Agency has been organizing tours in Cappadocia for many years. They have vast duration diversity in tours, from half day to 15 days. Beside the cultural tours, Kirkit gives importance to organize outdoor activities such as trekking, horse safari, mountain bike and canoe-raft on Kızılırmak. If you want you can request your special program by choosing the activities. With the help of its branches like, Karballa Hotel in Aksaray-Güzelyurt, Kirkit Pension in Avanos, Kirkit Breed of Horses and Kirkit Carpet Gallery, they try to give the best service to their guests.

For more information: www.kirkit.com
Tel: +90 (384) 511 32 59 e-mail: avanos@kirkit.com

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