Turkish Mosaic circuit. The morning of Day 6 (Around the Cavusin Valley, Cappadocia).

9th of October 2010
Uçhisar Valley - Cavusin Valley - Avanos village - Ulasli

Uçhisar Valley

Prior to continuing towards the Cavusin Valley, we visited a jewellery atelier  in the Uçhisar Valley, in which we became acquainted with various techniques used in the making of traditional jewellery pieces, as well as old time designs incorporated in today's jewellery.

Soon after, I was able to buy one of the famous handmade cloth dolls  from Soganli Köyü in one of its street stalls.  According to what I have read, during the winter months when women are forced to remain indoors, they make these fairy like rag dolls out of cloth remnants and other waste material.

Cavusin

Cavusin was used  hundreds of years  ago by monks as a place of retreat. One of its churches, believed to have been dedicated to John the Baptist, is dated back to the late fifth to early sixth century, with frescoes having been incorporated on its walls in the ninth century.

John the Baptist church frescoe details (Left). Inside archs of John the Baptist church (Right)

It came as a surprise to realise that most churches we visited along the valley had no guardian and many of the frescoes had been scraped, which is really a pity taking into account the role these rock caved in churches played during the persecution of Christians throughout the fourth century.

Our next stop was Avanos village, so as to visit one of the many pottery ateliers, where artisans, like their predecessors since Hittite times, continue to make pottery with the red clay removed from the bed of the Kizilirmak river, using simple foot-powered wheels and having designed and painted Hittite paterns on it.

Michele, one of our group companions prepared to try out he foot-powered wheel (Left). Young artists designing and painting the Hittite patterns on the pottery pieces (Right).

We were amazed by the worksmanship involved. Young women artists (modern in their looks, yet traditional in their no-eye contact with the visitors, even when asked a question) were the main workers, there being only one male artist "revising" the produced potery, so as to find potential flaws, before having it put on display to be sold.
We wandered up and down the exhibition room, marvelled at the beauty of the finished glazed artifacts ... and had they not been"breakable", I am sure many of us would have taken home more than  just one of these "pieces of Art".

The morning ended the best possible way - Having a typical Central Anatolia homemade lunch at an  Ulasli  "troglodyte" inhabitant's - a very tasty "Yarma asi" soup and  delicious "Patlican dolmast" (aubergines stuffed with rice, onions, parsley, raisins and spices, that are particular to this region) accompanied by a rich salad and local baked bread. The ones who ate inside (prt of the group travellers) had the advantage of being warmed up by the tandouri oven.

Outside the Ulasli's inhabitant (Left). Inside the dining room of the troglodyte house (Right)

By the time we left the village it was raining  really heavily ... so the afternoon visit to the Pasabag and Devrent Valleys, Zelve and the open air Museum of Göreme didn't sound very appealling ...