Travel Guide Guzelyurt

15 km east of Ihlara. Güzelyurt ("Beautiful country"), whose past goes back to the Chalcolithic era, is one of the places which mark the memory. This ancient village of poorly preserved stone houses overlooks a valley where the ruins of churches and troglodyte buildings are legion. Before the population exchange of 1924, the village was mostly populated by Greeks. Every year in July, the friendship between Greeks and Turks is celebrated. The village is associated with the image of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, a major figure in Cappadocia and Christianity. He would have made Güzelyurt an important center to spread his dogma in the region.