# Paşabağ (Monks Valley), Cappadocia > Paşabağ, or Monks Valley, is where Cappadocia’s strangest fairy chimneys stand: rock “mushrooms” with two and three caps, one holding the hermit’s cell of St Simeon. It is 6 km from Göreme on the Avanos road. Entry is €12 on a shared ticket with the Zelve Open-Air Museum, open daily. Allow 30–60 minutes. Web page: https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/pasabag-valley - City: [Cappadocia](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia), Turkey - YesGo score: 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 45 min - With kids: Fine with kids - Ticket (foreign visitors): €12 — one ticket for Paşabağ and Zelve - Children: Under 8 free - Museum Pass Cappadocia: Valid; €65 for 3 days - Closed: Never — open every day - Hours: Winter (October–March) 8:00–17:00, summer 8:00–19:00; last tickets 16:15 / 18:15 - Time needed: 30–60 minutes, plus 1–1.5 hours for Zelve - Getting there: Taxi from Göreme ≈ 10 min, or the Göreme–Avanos dolmuş - At the entrance: Free car park, cafés and souvenir stalls - Address: Zelve Yolu, Çavuşin, Avanos, Nevşehir - Coordinates: 38.67708, 34.85581 - Facts checked: 30.10.2026 ## Key facts - **€12** — foreign visitor ticket, shared with the Zelve Open-Air Museum; under-8s free (source: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Türkiye Müzeleri) - **≈ 6 km** — from Göreme on the Avanos road — about 10 minutes by car (source: The Turkey Traveler; Journey Era) - **30–60 min** — is enough to walk the valley and climb to the cells (source: The Turkey Traveler; Journey Era) - **St Simeon** — a chapel and hermit’s cell inside a three-capped chimney are dedicated to him (source: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism (muze.gov.tr and Türkiye Müzeleri); The Turkey Traveler) - **5th century** — Simeon Stylites lived on a pillar about 15 m high near Aleppo — he never came to Cappadocia (source: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism (muze.gov.tr); English Wikipedia: Simeon Stylites) - **Valley of the Priests** — the site’s older name, hence “Monks Valley” (source: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism (muze.gov.tr and Türkiye Müzeleri)) - **Paşabağları** — means “the pasha’s vineyards” in Turkish (source: Turkey from the Inside; Türkiye Müzeleri) - **≈ 1 km** — off the main Göreme–Avanos road (source: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Türkiye Müzeleri) - **1952** — the year neighbouring Zelve was finally abandoned and its villagers resettled (source: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Türkiye Müzeleri; English Wikipedia: Zelve) - **€65** — Museum Pass Cappadocia, 3 days — covers Paşabağ, Zelve, the Göreme museum and the underground cities (source: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Türkiye Müzeleri) ## Paşabağ entrance fee and opening hours Foreign visitors pay **€12**; children under 8 go free. The ticket covers two sites — Paşabağ and the Zelve Open-Air Museum about 2 km up the road — so keep it. The ministry prices the site in euros; you pay in lira at the day’s rate at the gate. Paşabağ is open **every day**. In winter (October to March) it runs 8:00–17:00 with last tickets at 16:15; in summer 8:00–19:00, last tickets 18:15. One ministry page gives 8:00–18:00 instead, so allow some slack. Planning the [Göreme Open-Air Museum](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/goreme-open-air-museum), [Derinkuyu](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/derinkuyu-underground-city) or [Kaymaklı](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/kaymakli-underground-city) too? The **Museum Pass Cappadocia** costs €65 for three days and pays off after three or four sites. > **Is Paşabağ free? Not any more** Older blog posts say you can just walk in. Today Paşabağ is part of the paid Zelve–Paşabağ site, with a ticket booth at the entrance. If you are on a Red Tour, entry is usually in the price — check when you book. ## How to get to Paşabağ from Göreme 1. Start at Göreme bus station (otogar) on Turgut Özal Meydanı. 2. Easiest: a taxi — about 6 km and 10 minutes. Ask for “Paşabağları”. Drivers usually wait at the car park, so getting back is easy. 3. Cheapest: the Göreme–Avanos dolmuş from the bus station, roughly hourly. Ask the driver to drop you at the Zelve turn-off (Zelve yolu). 4. From the turn-off it is about 1 km — 15 minutes on foot — to the entrance. 5. Walk on to Zelve (about 2 km) on the same ticket. Catch the dolmuş back from the main road; it runs irregularly, so check times at the bus station. 6. Coming out of the [Love Valley](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/love-valley) trail onto the Göreme–Çavuşin road? Paşabağ is still about 3 km away — a taxi is easier. ## What is Monks Valley? Paşabağ is a small valley by the village of Çavuşin with the densest cluster of multi-headed fairy chimneys in Cappadocia. Most chimneys elsewhere are single columns with one dark cap. Here two or three stems grow from one base, each with its own cap — hence the “mushrooms”. The columns are soft volcanic tuff; the caps are harder rock that shields them from erosion. For centuries people carved homes, chapels and storerooms into the tuff. The Turkish ministry records the old name as the Valley of the Priests, which is where “Monks Valley” comes from. There are no frescoes like at Göreme and no long trail like Love Valley. What you get is the chance to walk right up to the chimneys and peer into hermits’ cells. ## What to see in Paşabağ - **The three-capped chimney with St Simeon’s chapel and cell** — the star of the valley, with crosses carved at the entrance. Simeon Stylites himself lived on a pillar near Aleppo in the 5th century; the cell is only dedicated to him. - **Double- and triple-capped “mushrooms”** along the cobbled path — shoot them from below against the sky. - **Cave rooms with carved steps and small windows** — some open, many fenced off because of erosion. - **The upper viewpoint at the side of the valley** — easy to miss, and the only place to see every chimney at once. - **Souvenir stalls at the gate** — pottery from nearby [Avanos](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/avanos), rugs and dried fruit. ## Is Paşabağ worth visiting? Yes, on a first visit to Cappadocia: it is the closest you will get to the postcard fairy chimneys, and it sits on the way to Avanos. If you have already walked through Love Valley and resent paying for 40 minutes, skip it — or go for Zelve as well, and the ticket earns its keep. It works well with children: the path is short and under-8s are free. But the steps up to the cells are steep, worn tuff with few railings, so keep kids close. ## Paşabağ and Zelve: how to combine them Zelve is a separate open-air museum about 2 km from Paşabağ, and the same ticket gets you in. It spreads across three valleys with rock-cut churches, a mill and a mosque — a cave village that was lived in until 1952. Do Paşabağ first for photos in the soft morning or late-afternoon light, then give Zelve 1–1.5 hours. Together with the trip from Göreme, that is half a day. Arrive at 8:00 to beat the Red Tour minibuses, which fill the path from mid-morning. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] I’ll make the ticket booth: 16:15 in winter, 18:15 in summer - [ ] Keeping my ticket for Zelve - [ ] Card or some lira - [ ] Shoes with grip — the steps are slippery - [ ] Return sorted: taxi waiting or dolmuş times checked - [ ] Museum Pass Cappadocia, if I’m doing 3–4 sites ## Paşabağ vs Love Valley vs Göreme Open-Air Museum | | Paşabağ | Love Valley | Göreme Open-Air Museum | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Multi-capped chimneys and hermit cells | Tall chimneys and a gorge trail | Rock-cut churches with frescoes | | Entry | €12, shared with Zelve | Free | €20 | | Walkable from Göreme village | No — taxi or dolmuş | Yes, about an hour | Yes, ≈ 20 min | | Time on site | 30–60 min | 20 min to 3 h | 1.5–2 h | | Best for | Photographers and first-timers | Hikers | History and frescoes | One day only? Göreme Open-Air Museum in the morning, Paşabağ and Zelve after lunch. Love Valley is for when you want to walk. ## Cappadocia viewpoints compared Every valley and viewpoint in Cappadocia rated by YesGo. - [Pigeon Valley](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/pigeon-valley) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free - [Love Valley](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/love-valley) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free - [Uçhisar Castle](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/uchisar-castle) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · About 400 TL - [Paşabağ (Monks Valley)](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/pasabag-valley) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · €12 — shared ticket with Zelve - [Cappadocia hot-air balloons](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/cappadocia-balloons) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · Flight ≈ €90–150, watching free ## Northern Cappadocia in a day Morning on Uçhisar Castle, a walk through Love Valley, Paşabağ’s mushrooms and the potters of Avanos by evening. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and transfers. 1. [Uçhisar Castle](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/uchisar-castle) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · About 400 TL 2. [Love Valley](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/love-valley) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free 3. [Paşabağ (Monks Valley)](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/pasabag-valley) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · €12 — shared ticket with Zelve 4. [Avanos](https://yesgo.io/turkey/cappadocia/avanos) — YesGo score 31/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Free; workshops and shows paid ## Good to know Turkish signs say Paşabağları or Paşabağı; tour programmes say Monks Valley or Pasabag Valley — all the same place near Çavuşin. Zelve is a separate open-air museum 2 km away, but the ticket is shared. ## Tips - Get there at opening time — before the Red Tours, the path is nearly empty. - Don’t miss the side viewpoint: from above you see every chimney at once. - Pair Paşabağ with Zelve and Avanos — they are all on one road. - Keep a hand on the wall on the steps to the cells: the tuff is worn smooth. - Doing three or four museums in Cappadocia? The Museum Pass Cappadocia will come out cheaper. ## Questions ### How much is the Paşabağ entrance fee? €12 for foreign visitors, free for under-8s. One ticket covers Paşabağ and the Zelve Open-Air Museum. ### Is Paşabağ Valley free? No longer. It used to be open access; it now has a ticket booth as part of the Zelve–Paşabağ site. ### What are Paşabağ opening hours? Daily. Winter 8:00–17:00, summer 8:00–19:00; last tickets 45 minutes before closing. ### How do I get to Paşabağ from Göreme? Taxi, about 10 minutes, or the Göreme–Avanos dolmuş to the Zelve turn-off and then about 1 km on foot. ### How long do you need at Paşabağ? 30–60 minutes for the valley. Add 1–1.5 hours for Zelve; with travel it is half a day. ### Is Paşabağ worth it? Yes on a first trip — it has Cappadocia’s best multi-capped chimneys up close. Skip it if you have seen enough chimneys and won’t visit Zelve. ### Why is it called Monks Valley? Its older name is the Valley of the Priests: hermits carved cells and chapels into the chimneys. Paşabağları itself means “the pasha’s vineyards”. ### Did St Simeon live in Paşabağ? No. Simeon Stylites lived near Aleppo in the 5th century; the chapel and cell here are dedicated to him. ### Is the Museum Pass valid at Paşabağ? Yes. The Museum Pass Cappadocia (€65, 3 days) covers Paşabağ, Zelve, the Göreme museum and the underground cities. ## How we checked The fare, free entry for under-8s, the shared Zelve ticket and the Museum Pass Cappadocia come from the official Ministry of Culture page. The ministry’s two pages disagree on hours — one gives 8:00–19:00 in summer and 8:00–17:00 in winter with last tickets at 18:15 and 16:15, the other 8:00–18:00 with last tickets at 17:15 — so hours are marked “verifying”. Older guides calling the valley free, or quoting lira prices, are out of date. Distances, time on site and the dolmuş come from guidebooks; they disagree on how often the dolmuş runs, so it is marked “verifying” too. ## Sources - Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Türkiye Müzeleri: Nevşehir Zelve-Paşabağları Archaeological Site — fares, children, seasonal hours, Museum Pass Cappadocia, address, history, 30.10.2026 - Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, muze.gov.tr: Zelve-Paşabağları Ören Yeri — hours, the valleys, St Simeon, 30.10.2026 - The Turkey Traveler: Pasabag Valley (Monks Valley) Cappadocia: Is It Worth Visiting? - Journey Era: Pasabag Valley Fairy Chimneys, Cappadocia - Turkey from the Inside: The Pasha’s Vineyard - English Wikipedia: Zelve, Simeon Stylites; Wikidata Q133612406 --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.