Selime and Güzelyurt (Capadocia)

The village of Selime lies at the far end of the Ihlara Valley. The village was named after the sultan whose conical tomb stands on the river's bank and numerous facades are carved into the cliffs at Yaprakhisar. Selime was once the dramatic landscape for part of the original Star Wars film. Its pinnacles, rock cones and fairy chimneys give the place a mysterious appearance. Not far from Selime lies Güzelyurt. Güzelyurt means "Beautiful Homeland". The village was formerly known as Gelveri. Unlike Zelve museum, which is an abandoned village, Güzelyurt is still inhabited. This old town was home to many Byzantine Greeks until the exchange of populations after the foundation of the Turkish Republic. The old name for the village, Gelveri, is still used by many locals, and the stone houses they live in are typical of the traditional Byzantine Greek architecture of the region. There are the remains of a few cave churches in the village, and not far away is the reddish stone-built Kizil Kilise, "Red Church", which dates from the 5th century. Güzelyurt is known for having three underground cities and over 50 churches carved into the rocky volcanic landscape.