Hasan Dağı

Cappadocia


Hasan Dağı (Mt Hasan), Cappadocia's second-highest mountain, provides a challenging summit-bagging hike. The closest village to the 3268m inactive volcano is Helvadere, about 10km southwest of Ihlara village. From the mountain hut, 8km southwest of Helvadere, it takes eight hours to hike to and from the summit, where the basement of what was once Turkey's highest church remains. There are views of the Ala Dağlar and Bolkar ranges and Tuz Gölü, the country's second-largest salt lake, along the way.

You can get more information in Göreme at Middle Earth Travel, which offers a two-day trip incorporating Ihlara Valley from €210 per person.

Helvadere is also the site of the ancient city of Nora, the architecturally unique remains of which can be seen 1km east of the village.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Cappadocia attractions

1. Kırk Dam Altı Kilise

8.5 MILES

Although badly graffitied, the frescoes are still gloriously vibrant, and above the entrance you can see St George on a white horse, slaying a three…

2. Ağaçaltı Kilise

8.55 MILES

This cruciform-plan church is most famous for its incredibly well-preserved fresco ceiling depicting the Ascension.

3. Sümbüllü Kilise

8.58 MILES

Some frescoes remain, but this church is mostly noteworthy for its simple but elegant facade.

4. Karanlık Kale Kilisesi

8.61 MILES

This monastery structure includes a chapel with a dramatic carved, cross-patterned ceiling and pillared chambers with geometric red and white decoration…

5. Yılanlı Kilise

8.62 MILES

Many of the frescoes are damaged, but it's possible to make out the one outlining the punishments for sinners, especially the three-headed snake with a…

6. Eğritaş Kilise

8.67 MILES

Hardly anyone bothers to go to the Eğritaş Kilise, which is a shame because although the frescoes covering its half-collapsed, barrel-vaulted chapel are…

7. Kokar Kilise

8.7 MILES

This church has some fabulous frescoes – the Nativity and the Crucifixion for starters – dating from the 9th and 11th centuries.

8. Pürenli Seki Kilisesi

8.71 MILES

This double-nave church has a wealth of 10th- and 12th-century frescoes depicting stories from the Gospels. In 2019 it wasn't possible to access the…