The Art of Cappadocia Tour: Open Palace, St. Jean Church, Ebru, Pottery & More

Immerse your senses in the beauty of Cappadocia and discover this wonderful city. This tour will have you exploring the artistry of Cappadocia, through trying the art of Ebru workshop, observing and learning the ceramic-making process pottery demo, and visits to the Open Palace, spotting the frescoes of St. Jean Church, the architecture of Mustafapasa, and more.

The first stop of the day is Mustafapasa. It is a small village in the central Cappadocia region that is steeped in Greek Orthodox history. We’ll wander around the village and see old mansions dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries, spotting the incredible Greek influence on the architecture.

After a stroll around the charming Mustafapasa, we’ll head to a local artisan shop where we’ll participate in an Ebru workshop. Ebru is the traditional Turkish art of creating colorful patterns by sprinkling and brushing color pigments onto a pan of oily water and then transferring the patterns to paper. The first forms of this unique marbling art design were first thought to be used in the 15th century!

We’ll learn the art of Ebru from an artist before heading to lunch at a local restaurant to try a traditional pottery kebab dish. After devouring the delicious meal, we’ll make our way to Chez Galip where we’ll have a pottery demonstration. We’ll observe and learn about the creative process that goes into the art of ceramic-making and watch the highly-trained artisans doing their craft.

“Very lovely pottery gallery at Avanos. Run by generations of masters. Top quality stuff and great artistic skill. Great shop, history, and ambiance.” – Kenny, Malaysia

Our next stop is St. Jean Church. This historic rock-carved structure is one of the oldest, largest, and most prestigious churches in the area. We’ll marvel at the beautifully restored colorful religious frescoes before heading to our last stop of the day, the Open Palace.

“This little church carved out of the rocks is in excellent condition and worth a visit. The frescoes depicting biblical scenes are in wonderful condition and really beautiful.” – Helena, South Africa

Açık Saray (Open Palace) is a unique cave-village carved out of rock and developed around 1000 AD. The open Byzantine settlement features nine prominent courtyard complexes and fifteen cave churches, all carved into the volcanic landscape. We’ll explore the rocky and cavernous terrain before heading back to your accommodations.

“This was by far our favorite location of our Cappadocia trip. Every time me and my wife turned a corner we were just in awe at the massive and complex network of cave dwellings. We walked in and around the entire area and it just never let us down.” – Justin, USA