Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia, a mixed World Heritage property in central Anatolia

Background

Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia are on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a property of Turkiye.
The site lies on a volcanic plateau in central Anatolia, where erosion has shaped valleys, ridges and 'fairy chimney' rock pillars.
It was inscribed in 1985 under criteria (i), (iii), (v) and (vii), which makes it a mixed cultural and natural property.
The Goreme valley holds rock-hewn churches and monasteries with Byzantine painting of the post-iconoclastic period.
Troglodyte villages and underground cities such as Kaymakli and Derinkuyu served as refuges.
Monastic communities began settling in rock-cut cells from about the fourth century.