MOUNTAIN BIKE FESTIVAL – End of June

Because of its unique landscape, Cappadocia is ideal for mountain-biking. With its long-distance dirty roads & topography, you do not have to pedal for kilometers to see something attractive. Every year, at the end of June or July an international mountain bike festival takes action. Whether you are a professional or amateur, you are invited as well.

HACIBEKTAS FESTIVAL – 16 /18 August

Mystic, humanist, philosopher, Saint Haci Bektas Veli, the founder of the influential Bektasi sect of dervishes and the leader of an Islamic philosophy and social class in the 13th century. He had great impact on Anatolian humanism. His teachings become know as Bektasism. Haci Bektas Veli was the one who dedicated himself to the people, the rural society, thus serving as a promoter of Turkish language and literature. During the 3 days festival from 16th to 18th of August, he is recalled at his hometown Hacibektas.

AVANOS INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AND HANDICRAFTS FESTIVAL – Aug 31/ Sep 01

The old city of Avanos (called Venessa in the past) overlooks the longest river of Turkey: the Kizilirmak (Red River). The most famous historical feature of Avanos, which is still relevant and very visible today, is its production of earthenware pottery. The ceramic trade in this district and its countless pottery factories date right back to the Hittites, and the ceramic clay from the red silt of the Kizilirmak has always been used. The International Tourism and Handicrafts Festival is held in Avanos every year on August 31 – September 1.

WINE FESTIVAL – End of October

The mineral-laden volcanic soil is very fertile and Cappadocia is a prime agricultural region with many fruit orchards and vineyards. Every year in October an International Wine Festival is held in Urgup, the center of a successful wine producing region. Several small wineries in Cappadocia organize this wine tasting event.

GRAPE HARVEST FESTIVAL – Beginning of October

The traditional Urgup Grape Harvest Festival is held every year on 3-5 or 4-6 October. Urgup, is a lively tourist centre and has all the characteristics of the region. Besides this, it is the centre of an important grape and wine producing region of Central Anatolia.

MEVLANA COMMEMORATION CEREMONIES AND FESTIVAL – 10 / 17 December

Mevlana, who is also known as Rumi, was a philosopher and mystic of Islam, but not a Muslim of the orthodox type. His doctrine advocates unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love. To him and to his disciples all religions are more or less truth. Looking with the same eye on Muslim, Jew and Christian alike, his peaceful and tolerant teaching has appealed to men of all sects and creeds. Every year during 10th and 17th of December in Konya, all the whirling dervishes perform sema which is part of the inspiration of Mevlana as well as of Turkish custom, history, beliefs and culture.

The area is a famous and popular tourist destination, as it has many areas with unique geological, historic and cultural features.

The region is southwest of the major city Kayseri, which has airline and railroad (railway) service to Ankara and Istanbul.

The Cappadocia region is largely underlain by sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams, and ignimbrite deposits erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately 9 to 3 million years ago (late Miocene to Pliocene epochs). The rocks of Cappadocia near Göreme eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars and minaret-like forms. The volcanic deposits are soft rocks that the people of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out to form houses, churches, monasteries. Göreme became a monastic center between 300—1200 AD. First period settlement in Göreme reaches to the Roman period from Christianity. Yusuf Koç, Ortahane, Durmus Kadir and Bezirhane churches in Göreme, houses and churches carved into rocks till to Uzundere, Bağıldere and Zemi Valley carries the mystical side of history today. The Göreme Open Air Museum is the most visited site of the monastic communities in Cappadocia and is one of the most famous sites in central Turkey. It is a complex comprising more than 30 rock-carved churches and chapels containing some superb frescoes, dating from the 9th to the 11th centuries.