Mustafapaşa (Sinasos)

Six kilometres south of Ürgüp, Mustafapaşa was the prosperous Cappadocian Greek town of Sinasos until the 1923 Greek–Turkish population exchange emptied it of its merchant families, who shipped wine and goods to Constantinople, Russia and Europe. Its quiet lanes are an open-air museum of honey-coloured cut-stone mansions with intricately carved doorways, balconies and lintels, alongside Greek Orthodox churches such as the basilica of SS Constantine and Helena (built 1729, restored 1850). Just south of the centre lie the St Nicholas Monastery and the rock-cut churches of Monastery (Manastır) Valley, while the 1899 Mehmet Şakir Paşa Madrasah on the main square shows off the same local stone-carving mastery in an Ottoman key. It is one of the most atmospheric and least crowded heritage stops in Cappadocia.

Highlights

Ornate carved-stone Greek mansions along quiet cobbled lanes
The grand church of Constantine and Helena on the village square
Sinasos, styled the Athens of Asia Minor on the caviar trade
The folk tale of a camel that wept in the cold and turned to stone
Cliffside dovecotes and hermitages in the Gomeda valley next door

At a glance

Period	Greek / Ottoman (18th–19th century)
Valley	5 — Zemi Valley

Take care

Cobbled, uneven village lanes — watch your footing
Ordinary care needed on the old stone streets

History

First recorded in Ottoman registers in 1476, Sinasos grew rich in the 19th century as its merchants ran caviar and provisions trades in Constantinople, sending profits home to build mansions and endow schools and churches. Under the 1923 Lausanne convention the Greek community departed in 1924, founding Nea Sinasos on the island of Evia, while Muslim families from Kastoria in Macedonia settled in their place and the town took the name Mustafapaşa.

Myth & legend

Sinasos grew so prosperous on the Istanbul caviar trade that it was styled the 'Athens of Asia Minor'; after the population exchange its Greek families founded Nea Sinasos on the island of Euboea. Local folklore tells of a camel nearby that wept in the bitter cold until it turned to stone.

Geology

Mustafapaşa's mansions are built rather than burrowed: their carved facades use blocks of local beige tuff, a stone soft enough to saw and chisel finely yet durable in this dry climate. The same rock outcrops in the Gomeda valley next door, where a stream has cut it into cliffs riddled with dovecotes and hermitages.

Wildlife & nature

Vineyards, walnut and apricot orchards run out from the old stone streets towards the Gomeda valley, where a small stream keeps the floor green through summer. Cliffside dovecotes still draw rock doves, nightingales sing from the scrub in May, and little owls perch on the walls at dusk.

The view

Carved-stone Greek mansions with painted lintels line quiet cobbled lanes, gathered round a square where the grand church of Constantine and Helena recalls prosperous old Sinasos.

Photography

Golden hour flatters the carved facades and arched doorways; wander the back lanes for detail shots of lintel reliefs, and the square photographs best in soft morning light.

When to visit

Lovely in spring blossom and autumn light, and rarely crowded in any month; summer afternoons suit a long shaded lunch, while winter snow gives the stone lanes a hushed beauty.

Getting there

Mustafapaşa lies about 6 km south of Ürgüp; local dolmuş services run from Ürgüp, taxis are simple to arrange, and some southern-route tours include the village on their loop.

Where to stay

The village itself is the draw: restored 19th-century Greek mansions now house atmospheric guesthouses and small hotels, with Ürgüp's larger choice ten minutes away.

Food & water

Shops and cafes around the central square sell bottled water; carry a bottle if you strike out towards Gomeda Valley or the outlying chapels beyond the village edge.

Safety

Village lanes are cobbled and uneven — ordinary care. In an emergency dial 112.

Accessibility

The square and main street are manageable, but cobbles, kerbs and sloping side lanes make wheels hard going; several mansion courtyards and the church involve steps.

Visitor tips

Come late afternoon once day tours have gone, peer into open courtyards for the finest stone carving, and use the village as a quiet base for Gomeda and Üzengi valley walks.

The guide, in full

Mustafapaşa — Sinasos

The written guide to this site.

Cobbles underfoot, walls the colour of pale honey, and almost every doorway you pass framed by carved stone: vines, rosettes, dates and blessings cut by craftsmen who were showing off and had every reason to. This is Mustafapaşa, some six kilometres south of Ürgüp, and for most of its long life it answered to another name entirely: Sinasos. Start with the stone itself, because it makes this town an exception. Almost everywhere else in Cappadocia, people burrowed. Here they built. The same soft beige tuff that neighbouring villages hollowed into caves was quarried into blocks, sawn and chiselled fine, and raised into mansions with courtyards, deep balconies and painted lintels. In this dry air the stone keeps its edge for centuries, which is why the carving still looks as though the chisel left it last week. The money that paid for it came from a long way off. Sinasos first appears in Ottoman registers in fourteen seventy-six, and in the nineteenth century its Greek Orthodox merchants made their fortunes in Constantinople, running caviar and provisions to the tables of the capital. They sent the profits home. Mansions rose, schools and churches were endowed, and the town became so prosperous and so lettered that it was styled the Athens of Asia Minor. Walk into the square and look up at the great church of Constantine and Helena: that is what the confidence of those years looks like, translated into stone. Then the map was redrawn. Under the Lausanne convention of nineteen twenty-three the Greek families of Sinasos departed in nineteen twenty-four, taking the town's name with them and founding Nea Sinasos on the island of Evia. Muslim families arriving from Kastoria in Macedonia settled into the empty houses, and the town became Mustafapaşa. Two communities, two long journeys, one set of streets. Walk them with that in mind and the quiet takes on a different weight. The district keeps its older stories too. Local folklore tells of a camel out beyond the village that wept in the bitter cold until it turned to stone, and you may well be shown the rock in question. Beyond the last houses, vineyards and walnut and apricot orchards run out towards the Gomeda valley, where the same beige rock has been cut by a small stream into cliffs riddled with dovecotes and hermitages, and where that stream keeps the valley floor green right through summer. Rock doves still work the old dovecotes, nightingales sing from the scrub in May, and little owls take up their posts on the walls at dusk. Give this village time rather than a circuit. Come in the late afternoon, once the day tours have gone and the light turns the facades to amber. Peer into open courtyards, where the finest carving usually hides. Watch your footing on the cobbles, which are uneven and older than they look, and let the side lanes take you wherever they want to. Mustafapaşa makes a lovely, unhurried base for walks out into Gomeda and Üzengi, and an even lovelier place to do nothing much at all. When you are ready, follow the lane out past the last carved lintel, and let the trail carry you on.

Common questions

How old is Mustafapaşa (Sinasos)?

Mustafapaşa (Sinasos) dates from the Greek / Ottoman (18th–19th century) period.

How do I get to Mustafapaşa (Sinasos)?