Soğanlı Archaeological Site

Soğanlı lies in the triangle between Kayseri, Niğde and Nevşehir, about 15 kilometres from the centre of Yeşilhisar. Caves and rock churches here are woven in among today's houses. People began settling in the Roman period: the Romans used the rock chambers on the slopes as burial places, while the Byzantines turned them into churches.

From the 4th century AD Soğanlı was one of Cappadocia's Christian centres, and it stayed important in the 7th and 8th centuries. Around 50 rock churches and caves were cut into the tuff, along with monasteries and thousands of pigeon houses. Unlike Ihlara, Göreme or Zelve, Soğanlı also has domed rock churches.

Only eight churches can be entered today; the doors and windows of the others were walled up in past years. Among the accessible ones are the Karabaş, Domed, Tahtalı (Saint Barbara), Serpentine, Hidden, Tokalı, Balık and Geyikli churches. Their frescoes show Christ, the apostles and scenes from the Gospels, painted in the style of the 10th to 12th centuries.