İhlara Turkey İhlara Valley

Ihlara Turkey, Ihlara Valley

From Derinkuyu, Ihlara Valley is 40 km. in Ankara direction in Melendiz Valley.
Together with its natural beauty, hundreds of churches are the outstanding features of Ihlara Valley. A young girl's corpse is still being exhibited in Nevşehir museum.

The frescoes in the churches which have been discovered since today are still in their original form and color. The angels, Virgin Mary, important characters of Christianity have been pictured in paintings. Pictures of serpents are also outstanding in Yılanlı Kilise (Church of the Serpents).

After Christianity became established in Cappadocia region, Ihlara Valley became a very suitable seclusion and worship place for monks and priests. And during the war, it was used for hiding and defense. Many tabernacles and settlings, a lot of which have not yet been discovered, are evidences for that.

A lot of monks lived in Ihlara Region. The names of Father Arsenios in Kuzey Ambar Kilisesi (The Church of the North Warehouse), Father Petros in Eğri Taşı Kilisesi (The Church of the Crooked Rock), Father Loannes, the director of the monastery in the Grave Chapel of Yılanh Kilise (Presbyteros), Father Loannes in Lower Kaya Altı, and Father Theophylastas in Alay Gediği show that this region was an impartant center of Christianity in those ages. The women kneeled down in front of Virgin Mary in the Grave Room of Derviş Akın Church in Selime show that women played an impartant role in the religious and social life of the region.