Pasabag ( Monks’ Valley ) and St. Simeon Dwelling

Pasabag ( Monks’ Valley ) and St. Simeon Dwelling.

Formerly known as the ” Monks’ Valley” (Rahipler Vadisi), Pasabag is situated about 1 km from the Goreme-Avanos Road. Many fairy chimneys with multiple stems and caps, some housing chapels and living areas can be found here. This style is unique to this area. A chapel dedicated to St.Simeon and a hermit’s shelter are built into one such fairy chimney with three tops. The entrance of the cell, which can be reached through a chimney-like, narrow tunnel, is decorated with antithetical crosses. St.Simeon was living in seclusion near Aleppo in Syria during the 5th century, and rumors began spreading that he worked miracles. Disturbed by all the attention, he moved to the top of a 2 m-high column and later moved to one 15 m in height. From there he only descended occasionally to get the food and drink brought by his disciples.
The hermits of Cappadocia distanced themselves from the world by cutting into the fairy chimneys rather than living on the top of columns. They hollowed out the chimneys from top to bottom, creating rooms 10-15m high. They lay on beds made of rock and fed by locals via buckets that were lifted by ropes to their lofty perches.