This Ramsar-listed wetland area encompasses over 24,000 hectares of marshland and is one of Turkey's most important birdwatching sites. A major resting point on migration routes, 301 bird species can be spotted here including flamingos, red-necked grebes, Eurasian coots and reed buntings. From the ticket office in Ovaciftliği village, an impressive boardwalk route stretches into the marshes between tall reed beds and is loomed over by snow-capped Erciyes Daği (Mt Erciyes). There's also a small museum and a wildlife-viewing tower.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
28.46 MILES
Kaymaklı underground city features a maze of tunnels and rooms carved eight levels deep into the earth, though only four are open to the public. The…
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28.71 MILES
Some of Cappadocia's best-preserved and most captivating frescoes are hidden within this rarely visited rock-hewn monastery that was only rediscovered in…
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14.14 MILES
Let's get one thing straight: despite its science-fiction setting, no scene in Star Wars was ever filmed near Soğanlı. But don't despair Chewbacca fans;…
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26.72 MILES
Derinkuyu underground city, 10km south of Kaymaklı, has cavernous rooms arrayed on seven levels reached by skinny long tunnels. When you get all the way…
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23.33 MILES
About 200 monks once lived at this rock-cut Byzantine monastery complex amid its labyrinth caverns, which include living quarters, refectory and kitchen…
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28.29 MILES
By far the most interesting religious building in Monastery Valley, this small monastery, centred around a small courtyard and semi-built into rock cones,…
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Ayios Kostantinos-Eleni Kilise
28.59 MILES
Right on Mustafapaşa's main square is the imposing Ayios Kostantinos-Eleni Kilise, erected in 1729 and restored in 1850. A fine stone grapevine runs…
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24 MILES
The blue-columned Cemil Church with its extremely defaced fresco fragments overlooks a hill slope of derelict Greek mansions. Follow the alleyway winding…
Nearby Cappadocia attractions
13.57 MILES
On the main road into Soğanlı, about 800m before the ticket office, signs point to the Tokalı Kilise on the right, reached by a steep flight of worn steps.
13.59 MILES
The Gök Kilise is just to the left of the Tokalı Kilise. It has twin naves separated by columns and ending in apses. The double frieze of saints is badly…
14.14 MILES
Let's get one thing straight: despite its science-fiction setting, no scene in Star Wars was ever filmed near Soğanlı. But don't despair Chewbacca fans;…
14.35 MILES
In Soğanlı's Yukarı Valley the first church on your right is the Karabaş Kilisesi, which is covered in paintings showing the life of Christ, with Gabriel…
14.4 MILES
Nestling in the Yukarı Valley hillside, very near the Kubbeli Kilise, is the Saklı Kilise (Hidden Church), which, as its name suggests, is indeed…
14.42 MILES
Turn left at the Yılanlı Kilise, cross the Yukarı Valley floor and climb the far hillside to find the Kubbeli Kilise. The Kubbeli is unusual because of…
14.45 MILES
In the Aşağı Valley, the Geyikli Kilise has a monks' refectory and a still-visible fresco on the wall of St Eustace with a deer (from which the church's…
14.57 MILES
The Tahtalı Kilise sits at the furthest end of the Aşağı Valley. It has well-preserved Byzantine and Seljuk decorative patterns.