Nevşehir

Nevşehir stands amid the volcanic valleys of Cappadocia, where soft rock has been carved into dwellings and churches. The settlement was once a village called Muşkara, overlooked by a castle of Seljuk origin. Its transformation came in the early eighteenth century through the patronage of a man born there, the Ottoman grand vizier Damat İbrahim Pasha.

During his years as grand vizier from 1718 to 1730, İbrahim Pasha promoted the growth of his birthplace and renamed it Nevşehir, the “new city”. A complex completed in 1727 brought together a mosque, madrasa, caravanserai, school, public kitchen, bath and fountains. These buildings and measures to attract inhabitants turned the small village into a flourishing town, giving it new institutions for worship, learning, travel and relief.