01 Apr Cavusin
Cavusin is a small village on the road between Goreme and Avanos. Its population was mixed, with many Orthodox Christian families, until the population exchange of the 20s.
St. John Babtist Church
Located at the top of the hill of the old town of Cavusin, this church was built in the 5th century and it is the biggest of Cappadocia, even though it was divided later into three rooms because the danger of collapsing. Most of its frescoes are faded by smoke but there are still some visible ones.
Cavusin Church – Nicephorus Phocas II
This church is located next to the road from Goreme and Avanos, at a distance of 2.5 kilometers from the exit of Goreme. It features barrel vaults, a tall nave and three apses. Its origins dates back to the first century A.D.
It was founded by Nicephorus Phocas II, a Byzantine general who was born in Cappadocia and managed to defeat the Arabs and regain Crete in 961. After the death of his first wife he married the widow of Emperor Romanos II, what made him the new Emperor (or co-emperor). But the young empress took Nicephorus’s nephew as her mistress and together, they planned his murder, which took place in the private room. The frescoes inside the church represent elongated figures of saints and angels, dressed in the traditional sense.