The village of Mustafapasha is situated in a gorge at a distance of five kilometres from Jürgüp. This village was called Sinoson or Sinososos by the Rumians, and the Turks changed the name to Mustafapasha. the name to Mustafapasha. This place is attractive for tourists with its unique architecture of rural buildings.
Cappadocia is Greek Turkey. From the very beginning of the times of the Ottoman Empire, until the 20th century, Mustafapasha was inhabited by a large number of Greeks, and later the Turks settled here. Differences in religion and creed didn't prevent the two peoples from having common relatives, businesses and all the things that unite people in this life. It was one of the important Greek centres in Turkey. To this day, there are still preserved Greek mansions, churches, monasteries.
There is a two-storey monastery in the village, which is currently used today as a hotel for tourists. Inside it there are frescoes in pretty good condition. The church of St Basil is also located near the village.
This area has been sacred to both Christians and Muslims. It's said to be the site of a miracle performed by Hadji Bektash - the founder of the dervish movement. One day, Hajji was walking from Kayseri to Yurgup and near today's Mustafapasi, he met a Christian girl. The girl was carrying a tray of cakes. В conversation with Bektash, she complained about the poor quality of the bread and asked the dervish for for help from the dervish. Haji replied to her: "From now on you will sow rye and and harvest wheat, and bake large cakes from the flour". As he said, so it happened. In honour of this event, the inhabitants of the surrounding settlements built a a shrine on the spot where Bektash met the girl. From this story of the friendly relations that existed between the Christians Anatolia and the dervish sects.
The Greek population begins to grow gradually, and the city is called Sinasos, ie. "city of fishermen." By 1850 there are already about 450 Turks and 4,500 Greeks living there. The development and prosperity of the fishing business was fuelled by the river and Lake Damsa, in the neighbourhood. The extent of this business can be seen from the fact that the Greek guild of Sinasosse held a monopoly in Constantinople on the salted fish and caviar business in Constantinople. During these years the city reached its greatest prosperity.
Here in the 19th century, beautiful mansions, churches, baths, educational institutions and fountains, many of which have survived to this day. A school for girls is also built here, and the library of the school for boys contains more than a thousand books, and not only on religious subjects. Sinasos becomes an educational and religious centre for the Greek population, living in the Cappadocia region.
However, the fateful 1920s came. They did not, unfortunately, pass by Sinasos. According to the treaty, the entire Greek population of Turkey was expelled to Greece, the Turkish population of Greece from their forced places to Turkey. Officially, the act was officially called "population exchange". Some of the deported Greek Turks were settled here. But the Turks, judging by the current state of the city, clearly could not adapt to the new place.
Sinasos is renamed Mustafapasha in honour of Ataturk. Soon the fishing business rots at the root, and the town gradually falls into disrepair, becoming almost into the village you see today. Most of the Greek mansions, works of art, are empty and derelict. Many of the houses are ruined, windows broken out.
The average Greek mansion in Synasos usually had the following appearance. There is inner courtyard, in which it was obligatory to provide a place for winemaking. Often the houses had two floors. Some parts of the houses were often carved directly into the rock (a feature common to most of the houses in Cappadocia). In the rocky part and on the ground floor there was a kitchen, rooms for various household needs, a latrine and storage rooms. The living area was located on the second floor. In the underground part of the houses, which cannot be called a cellar, there are rooms with vaulted ceilings. This room was used as a family church. Each house was characterised by its own unique stone carvings.
There is also the church of St Helen and St Constantine. It's carved into the rock and and is supported by four columns. It is entered by steps carved out of stone. В gorge, a little lower down, one can see the Church of the Holy Cross, built of stone blocks in the rock. Inside it, frescoes depict the second coming of Christ.
While in Mustafapasha, it is definitely worth visiting the valleys around the city. Also You can also see Keshlik Monastery, Sobessos, Tashkınpasha, and if you have a car - Kaymakly, Mazy village and underground city, Damsa reservoir and Soganli valley. And, of course, you should wander around the streets of the city. Here you can see quite a few old Greek houses from the 19th century, some inhabited by locals, some converted into hotels, some are in disrepair. Most of them are built of a special stone from the Black Sea region. It has a yellowish-white colour. There are hotels and guesthouses in Mustafapasha, many of them are in old Greek mansions.
