Swords Valley or Kiliclar Valley, is a very accessible valley to walk even with children. The trail starts near Goreme and extends to Cavusin. It is convenient to combine a visit to the Goreme Open Air Museum with a walk along the valley and a trip to the Valley of Love. The length of the valley is about 2.5 km.
The valley covers the entire area to the left of the road leading to the museum, located approximately between the first left turn to Cavusin and the cliffs on the hill. At the beginning of the valley, there is a platform where tourists get on the Cappadocia hot air balloon every morning. There are also paddocks for horses. From time to time, people come here with rental scooters or ATVs in Goreme.
Many rocky chambers were cut down centuries ago at the very beginning of the valley. There are churches and residences here. Residents currently use some rocky rooms for their purposes. They currently store grain, raise livestock, and are equipped with stables for horses. In some churches, frescoes with images of saints can still see; Maltese crosses carves in stone on the walls. If you go deep into the valley, you can see residents familiar with the vegetable gardens.
The valley ends with a descent from the hill. This leads to a dirt road to Cavusin on the left and the most exciting part of the Meskendir Valley on the right. There is a cafe at this junction of a path and a dirt road.
Entrances to the Swords Valley
Your first option for Swords Valley starts from the left side of the road from Goreme to the Open Air Museum. It is better to start the review directly from the rocks. These rocks are easily recognizable. From the road, you can see many cave-carved rooms in them. You will see another landmark in the parking lot of the tourist buses coming to the museum on the opposite side of the road. It is about 300 meters from the museum entrance. Then you drive along the rocks along the paths that lead from the road towards Cavusin.
For the second option, you will go down a dirt road from the rock fort in Cavusin to the cemetery. You are driving along the Meskendir Valley towards the Red Valley towards Goreme. After approximately 1,5 km, a roadstone will be near the path leading to the Swords Valley to the right. The turning point is the cafe. The trails lead to the top.
Recommendations for Swords Valley
The walking time of the valley is about 3-3.5 hours on average. It is better to start the walk from Goreme. In the beginning, study the rock churches and all kinds of buildings. In particular, many different intersecting roads go up or down or end in dead-end streets. There’s no need to visit them all, but it’s worth it to go higher and photograph the beautiful view of the neighboring Meskendir Valley.
Then head towards Cavusin on the trails in the valley. It would be best to navigate between the Rose Valley and Red Valley inscriptions with arrows written on various homemade plates or hands written in red paint on the rocks. Some tourists find this very confusing. The notes show how to get to these valleys, and the road to them entirely coincides with Swords Valley.
Swords Valley Churches
At the very beginning of the valley, among other churches, there are two churches with well-preserved frescoes. These churches are rarely visited. Check out the churches located in the valley:
- Virgin Mary Church: It dates from the 11th century. You reach the Tokala Church, part of the Goreme Open Air Museum, but outside the museum, on the left of the road, 60 meters before the entrance. There is a road from Tokala church to Swords Valley. After 250-300 meters, you will find the Church of the Virgin Mary. The frescoes depict the Birth and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the death of Mary, and portraits of saints.
- Kilicli Church: The history of this church dates back to the 11th century. It locates north of the Virgin Mary Church, about 500-600 meters from the road to Goreme Museum. The church has four columns; the interior decorates with frescoes depicting the life of Jesus from his birth to his crucifixion.
