Topkapı Palace
The sultans’ palace on Sarayburnu: courtyards, the Imperial Council, the treasury and the terraces over the water. Dated entry, sold online on its own site.
Göreme Archaeological Site (Göreme Open Air Museum)
Cappadocia's best-known rock-cut monastic complex, with frescoed churches, chapels and refectories from the fourth to thirteenth centuries.
About the museum
The Göreme Open Air Museum is a rock settlement where monastic life flourished from about the fourth to the thirteenth century. In a valley setting, churches, chapels, refectories and living quarters have been carved into blocks of rock. Göreme is regarded as the place where the monastic education system began, a model later seen at Soğanlı, Ihlara and Açıksaray.
Cappadocia's religious tradition was strengthened by three great churchmen, the Cappadocian Fathers Basil of Caesarea, his brother Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus, and their memory lingers over the region. In the churches the earliest layers of paint show geometric decoration used in early Christianity, while later frescoes depict scenes from the Gospels and the life of Christ.
Among the buildings you can visit are the Girls' and Boys' Monastery, the churches of St Basil, St Barbara, the Apple Church, the Snake Church, the Dark Church, the Sandal Church and the Buckle Church. The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.
Tips
- An audio guide is available, and the site opens in the evening as a night museum on certain days.
- The Dark Church has its own entrance inside the site. El Nazar Church, in a nearby valley, is a quieter extra stop.
Questions
When is Göreme Archaeological Site (Göreme Open Air Museum) open?
According to the Ministry’s listing it opens at 08:00 and closes at 18:45. Open every day.
Can I buy tickets for Göreme Archaeological Site (Göreme Open Air Museum) on this site?
No. This site sells no tickets. Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia and Dolmabahçe Palace are sold on our sister sites; for Göreme Archaeological Site (Göreme Open Air Museum), buy at the ticket office or on the Ministry’s official e-ticket system.
Where is Göreme Archaeological Site (Göreme Open Air Museum)?
Göreme Archaeological Site (Göreme Open Air Museum) is in Nevşehir, Türkiye — Gaferli Mah. Müze Cad. Göreme Açıkhava Müzesi Bilet Gişesi Göreme/NEVŞEHİR.
Nearby
Nevşehir
Çavuşin Church
A rock-cut Byzantine church of 964–965 near Göreme, with a two-floor plan, monks' rooms below and frescoes of Emperor Nikephoros Phokas and his family.
Nevşehir
Zelve-Paşabağlar Archaeological Site
Three valleys of fairy chimneys in Cappadocia, once a Christian monastic settlement, with rock-cut churches, Saint Simeon's chapel and dovecotes.
Nevşehir
El Nazar Church
A tenth-century rock-cut church in the El Nazar valley near Göreme, painted in an archaic style with scenes from the life of Christ.
Nevşehir
Dark Church (Göreme)
The most prized church of the Göreme Open Air Museum, a cross-plan rock church whose frescoes stayed vivid because so little light reaches them.
Nevşehir
Derinkuyu Underground City
An eight-level rock-cut city in Cappadocia where early Christians hid, with stables, kitchens, a church, a missionary school and huge rolling-stone doors.
Nevşehir
Kaymaklı Underground City
A labyrinth of tuff-carved rooms and tunnels eight levels deep at Kaymaklı, built as a refuge and still walkable on four lit levels.
Istanbul tickets online
Four Istanbul landmarks, each sold on its own site by the agency behind this guide — dated entry and free cancellation up to 24 hours.
Basilica Cistern
Justinian’s great underground reservoir: 336 columns in still water and the two Medusa heads. Fast-track entry with a digital audio guide.
Hagia Sophia
Justinian’s cathedral, the sultans’ mosque and a working mosque again today. The ticket admits you to the upper visitor gallery.
Dolmabahçe Palace
A nineteenth-century palace on the water’s edge: the Selamlık, the Ceremonial Hall under its chandelier, the crystal staircase and the Harem.