Things to Do in Aksaray

The Ihlara Vadisi is a 14 km gorge cut 150 m deep into the volcanic tufa plateau by the Melendiz River. The gorge walls are honeycombed with over 100 Byzantine cave churches, monasteries and dwellings used by Christian communities from the 6th to 12th centuries — many retaining extraordinary frescoes of biblical scenes in vivid reds, ochres and blues. The Ağaçaltı Kilisesi(Yılanlı Kilise) and Kokar Kilise are highlights. The valley walk (8–14 km) through cottonwood and willow forest along the river is one of the finest half-day hikes in Turkey.

Selime Manastırı, at the northern end of the Ihlara Valley, is the largest rock-cut monastery in Turkey — a cathedral-scale complex of carved halls, corridors, kitchens and stables cut into a volcanic cone the size of a small mountain. Byzantine monks carved it in the 8th–9th centuries; the great vaulted cathedral space with its carved columns is genuinely spectacular. The exterior, with its distinctive honeycomb of openings in the cliff face, is striking from afar.

Güzelyurt, 45 km from Aksaray, is a small town of extraordinary historical depth — a Greek Orthodox community until the 1923 population exchange, with hundreds of rock-cut churches, an underground city (similar to Derinkuyu but less visited), and the stunning Monastery Valleyjust above the town. The town itself retains its old Greek stone houses and a beautiful Byzantine church converted to a mosque.

The Ağzıkarahan Kervansarayı, on the old Silk Road 15 km east of Aksaray, is one of the finest Seljuk caravanserais in Turkey — built in 1238 by the Seljuk sultan Keyhüsrev II. Its monumental entrance portal, covered winter hall and open summer court are exceptionally well preserved, giving a vivid sense of how the medieval Silk Road hospitality system worked.