GÖREME MUSEUM (GÖREME AÇIK HAVA MÜZESI)

The museum is in fact a valley of about thirty churches with magnificent frescos (^10th and ^11th centuries) and monasteries. The churches bear the names that people gave them in the region.

The Church of the Loop (Tokalı Kilise). It is the largest and most beautiful rock church in the region. It is divided into two parts, the old and the new. The frescoes of the old church (^10th century) represent scenes from the life of Christ in a primitive style. The murals of the new church, on a beautiful blue background (late ^10th and early ^11th century), are of great artistic value. Their long figures are among the masterpieces of Byzantine art.

The Apple Church (Elmalı Kilise). Its name is said to come from a beautifully preserved fresco of the Archangel Gabriel holding an apple. It has four columns. One can distinguish the Crucifixion, the Resurrection of Lazarus and the Deisis. On the central dome, Christ.

Saint Barbara (Azize Barbara kilese). Carved into the rock, it has a cross-shaped plan and two columns. Here, the painters favored red and ochre for the figures and motifs in a naïve style, such as the rooster symbolizing the denial of St. Peter, strange insects, sometimes interpreted as the devil, and stylized cypress trees. There is also a representation of Saint Barbara, the horsemen George and Theodore, and Mary.

The Church of the Serpent (Yılanlı Kilise). The church owes its name to the fresco depicting St. George and St. Theodore slaying the dragon. Note the painting of St. Basil and St. Thomas next to St. Onophrios provided with female breasts and a beard. Next to it is a refectory with a double apse. The seat dug into the wall was reserved for the superior of the convent. Also the kitchen and the cellar are adjacent.

The Dark Church (Karanlık Kilise). Its only window does not allow light to illuminate it, which is probably the reason for the excellent state of preservation of its frescoes. On the dome, Christ Pantocrator, on the narthex, a magnificent Ascension. The paintings represent the birth of Christ and his crucifixion.

At the bottom of the rock , another church, unnamed, decorated with a cross pattern of five circles, unique in the region.

The Sandal Church (Çarıklı Kilise). According to popular belief, it was a sandal track marking the passage of Christ, opposite the entrance, that inspired this strange name.