Zelve related to
Nevşehir is a town situated 2 km from the turnout on the
Göreme-
Avanos road where the
Christian population lived together with the
Moslims until recently. The majority of the fairy chimneys are found in this town. It is known that the priests lived here during the 9th and 13th century were given the first religious seminars.
Zelve is an open air museum where rather interesting natural formations can be seen. In
Zelve there are many churches, monastries and mosques carved into stones along the three valleys joining each other via tunnels. Although access to one of the monastries is rather difficult it is worth to see. The old settlement comprises houses carved into stones. During the exchange in the year 1924 Greek population residing here have migrated and Turks have settled here. In the year 1952 the entire population of village was discharged. There are 15 churches in the region. The biggest out of them are
Üzümlü Church and
Geyikli Church. The grotto with three chimneys in the Monk’s valley was used as a hermitage by
St. Simon.
