When visiting a foreign country, such as Turkey, tourists should stick to the main tourist sites — right? Well, yes and no. Most tourists there visit Istanbul, the Mediterranean, and Cappadocia, But lesser known places can have lots to offer too. Kayseri, smack in the middle of Turkey's Anatolian plateau, and currently undergoing a tourism revamp, is one of those.
As a manufacturing city it just doesn't have the atmosphere, or the glitter, that tourists yearn for. And so, Kayseri, the carpet and textile center of Turkey, tends to be overlooked by the tourist. But it wasn’t always that way for this ancient city. Prior to the boom in tourism in the nearby small but lively towns of Goreme and Urgup, Kayseri was the base for touring Cappadocia, less than an hour’s drive away.
Technically, Kayseri is in Cappadocia too, but try telling that to a tourist looking for attractions such as cave hotels, pottery shops, and winery tours — all of which sprang up outside this city. It’s not surprising that staid Kayseri declined as a tourist center. Once Cappadocia was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985, well, how could a prosaic manufacturing city compete?
But Kayseri, “Caesar’s City,” is once again coming into its own. The coming of the Hilton Hotel, new road construction, an underground transit system, and city center restoration are all helping bump Kayseri back into the mainstream of tourism.
Roman Tombs, Selcuk Architecture, and Ottoman Mansions
Lovers of history and architecture will find that Kayseri is full of things to see, worth a visit in its own right. In the city, there are many places of interest easily reached by foot, or by taxi, or ask at your hotel for a knowledgeable guide. A few not-to-be-missed tourist sites within Kayseri are:
- Roman tombs
- Ottoman mansions
- Archaeological Museum
- Armenian churches
- Selcuk castles, medical schools, and madrassahs
- Bestepeler Park and Zoo
The tourist information office near the city center offers splendid brochures and booklets and a good city map.
Outside the city, within an easy drive, are:
- Caravanserais (old travelers’ inns on the Silk Road)
- Carpet-making villages
- Dams and parkland
- Mount Erciyes, an extinct volcano, now a center for skiing and trekking
- Kultepe-Kanesh, an Early Bronze Age Assyrian trading colony
- Cappadocian cave churches, canyons, and underground cities
Add to all those Kayseri’s claim to fame as a carpet center and its re-awakening tourism savvy and this city now makes an attractive tourist destination.
Old Kayseri Conservative but Welcoming
This city of almost a million is a mixture of modernity and conservatism. With a swelling population of migrants from the outlying villages, the city has grown apace. Although gleaming supermarkets and public transit systems give the appearance of modern life, Kayseri has a reputation for Islamic conservatism: headscarves abound, segregated tea gardens can still be found along the main street, and many mosques dot the city-scape.
But Kayseri is welcoming of tourists. In most larger shops it’s usual to find someone who speaks English, but if not, one usually appears almost magically from a neighboring shop — much the way a tea boy appears from out of nowhere when you are viewing the wares in a carpet shop.
Kayseri is a busy place at any time and rush hour can be frantic. However, an evening walk down Sivas Caddesi, the main street, where most shops stay open late, can give you a taste of urban Turkish life, at a slightly slower pace. Many of the city’s residents, seeking a little change from their multi-storey flats, choose to stroll in the evening down the broad sidewalks.
The Turkish love of sweets is on display everywhere in Kayseri: pastry and sweet shops, seemingly open at all hours, will tempt you, as will the dondurma (ice cream) stands.
Kayseri Carpets and Kilims
Carpets and kilims are this city’s specialty as you`ll soon find out if you linger a while near the city center looking like a tourist. You`ll likely be approached with an offer to take a look at some carpets — and have a glass of cay (tea). Many adventurous tourists have made good buys this way, but you must be careful.
If you prefer to browse on your own, a wide variety of carpet shops can be found in the markets of the Bedesten (1497) and the Vezirhan (1727), in the heart of old Kayseri, just a short walk from the Hilton Hotel. Antique Turkish kilim rugs are a specialty of the sellers there. While there, you`ll notice how every small nook and cranny, even in very old buildings, is put to good use by the Kayserians.
Kayseri Tackles Pollution
Ancient civilizations have left a permanent stamp on Kayseri, and modern life too has left its mark, although in a different way. Air pollution has been a major problem for Kayseri. It once coated everything with a film of soot; even the stray cats couldn’t escape it.
The fault wasn’t entirely Kayseri’s since this city had the unfortunate luck to be situated in a saucer-shaped bowl of land surrounded by five extinct volcanoes. There were no city planners in ancient times to foresee how exhaust fumes would get trapped there. But Kasyeri has taken many steps to reduce pollution and its new underground transit system, replacing a fleet of aging buses, will help immensely.
Transportation and Accommodation in Kayseri
Kayseri is easily reached: Domestic flights arrive several times daily at Erkilet International Airport and there is an excellent and low-cost inter-city bus and train system. Kayseri’s taxi service is very reasonably priced and the drivers are helpful and honest. The taxi scams that plague major tourist cities, such as Istanbul, are uncommon here.
There’s lots of accommodation to be found in Kayseri, ranging from the five-star Hilton to the smaller, more utilitarian hotels. Be prepared though for mostly non-alcoholic hotels and restaurants in this Islamically-minded city, although beer, wine, and liquor should be available at some shops.
Kayseri is once again becoming an attractive tourist city for a holiday in Turkey. There are no beaches here, nor sun-dappled Mediterranean villas, but for the traveler interested in ancient places and history, beautiful architecture, and Turkish culture, Kayseri is an ideal holiday destination.
To learn more about Cappadocia,Turkey, readers might like to read:
Jen L. Jones - Based in Canada, Jones writes on human rights, history,and the natural world. She focuses also on Turkish and Scottish travel and ...
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