Bekarlar

Bekarlar belongs to the Cappadocian uplands between Aksaray and Niğde. A settlement of this name, formerly known as Nenezi, lies in the area associated with ancient Nazianzus. The countryside forms part of a landscape of mountain passes, cultivated valleys and settlements shaped by long use of local stone.

Cappadocia was home to Christian communities in the Byzantine era and later came under Turkish rule. The surviving rock-cut churches and underground spaces of the wider region recall the varied ways in which inhabitants used the terrain. Local tradition associates Nenezi with the Christian past of Nazianzus.