Nevsehir

Nevsehir, formerly Muskara, ancient Nyssa, is a city and the capital district of Nevsehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. Nevsehir is a regional transport hub and provincial town for the surrounding area. It’s close enough to the sites of Cappadocia to make it practical as a base from which to tour, but it doesn’t have the same ’charm’ as the smaller Cappadocian towns and villages. Useful place to find buses and any bus coming from the west will stop here on the way through. The city has a population of 310.000. Hotels and Pensions are plentiful here but the size of the place makes it a little tricky to get around without your own transport. It’s useful to know that you can find services here that aren’t available in the wilds of the interior but with any luck you won’t need them.
It does have a decent archaeological and ethnographical museum with Byzantine, Hittite, Roman and Ottoman artifacts and a couple of interesting mosques that are worth a visit if you are here for the day.

Though said to be Turkey’s richest town, Nevsehir, at the very heart of the region, can hardly be accused of ostentatious wealth. Nevertheless, frequent bus services all over Cappadocia run from here, and you’ll probably find yourself detouring through when travelling between other neighbouring towns. The Ottoman castle at the heart of the old city, southwest of the modern centre, is a good landmark. The new city below is divided by two main streets, Ataturk Bulvari, on which are situated most of the hotels and restaurants, and Lale Caddesi, turning into Gulzehir Caddesi to the north, where you’ll find the main dolmus station. The remains of the citadel are no big deal but the views are good. On the side of the hill, the impressive eighteenth-century Damat Ibrahim Pasa Mosque is set in a large precinct surrounded by narrow streets, and has a cool, dark interior enhanced by small decorative details.

Points of Interest: Goreme, Goreme Open Air Museum, Avanos, Uchisar, Ortahisar, urgup, Zelve, Ihlara Valley, Underground cities.
Author: Arif Cagrici