Guide
To reach the head of the valley you go from Ortahisar to the Kızılçukur sunset terrace, the place where people gather in the late afternoon to watch the sun go down over Cappadocia. There is a wide area at the terrace where you can leave a car.
The way into the valley is the path that runs about 250 metres below, toward the Üzümlü church. Just before the church a sign marks the entrance to the valley, though it does not give the distance. From there to the village of Çavuşin the walk is roughly five kilometres, three to four hours at an easy pace.
The walk is usually begun after looking at the Üzümlü church. Its frescoes were painted before the iconoclastic period and have survived to the present, which makes it one of the few churches in Cappadocia of that kind. They are the work of the monk Saint Nichitas, who took Saint Simeon as his model; his cell is in the upper part of the church.
Once in the valley you pass through several tunnels. The longest is 37 metres, and as the middle of it is dark a small torch is useful. That tunnel ends at a steep drop of about twenty metres, where two iron ladders have been fixed. Going down, it is better — both for safety and to avoid being troubled by the height — to face the ladder rather than the drop.
After a while the Kızılçukur valley joins the Meskendir valley, and from there the walk follows the Meskendir and finishes at Çavuşin.
