Çavuşin Historic Cave Village

Located just three kilometers north of Göreme on the road to Avanos, Çavuşin is one of the oldest Christian settlements in Cappadocia. Its most striking landmark is a towering amphitheater-like rock wall honeycombed with abandoned cave homes, pigeon lofts, and stone arches that were inhabited until the 1950s.

Crowning the crest of this cliff is the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, widely dated by archaeologists to the 5th century AD—making it one of the oldest and largest rock-cut churches in the entire region. From the cliff ridge behind the church, a dramatic panorama opens simultaneously over Red Valley, Rose Valley, Paşabağ, and Uçhisar Castle.

In the 10th century, Çavuşin was closely linked to the Byzantine military aristocracy; nearby stands the famous "Pigeon House Church" (Çavuşin Church), painted between 964 and 965 AD to commemorate the victorious eastern campaign of Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, who was born in Cappadocia.