page_title: Kayakapı
section_title: Settlement Fabric and Architectural Features
hierarchical_section_title: Kayakapı / Cultural Environment / Settlement Fabric and Architectural Features
caption_attribution_description: English: General view over Kayakapı
context_page_description: The Kayakapi neighbourhood of Ürgüp, Turkey is a historical area located on the northeastern slope of a hill known as Esbelli. It features many examples of vernacular and monumental architecture, including the House of Saint John the Russian. Abandoned after the 1980s, the semi-ruins and natural landscape of Kayakapi are now being developed for tourism.
context_section_description: The Kayakapi Project involves an area of 157 buildings and approximately 23.5 hectares consisting of 255 lots.
  The historical Kayakapi Neighbourhood is situated on the northeastern slope of a natural elevation known as Esbelli Rock, which is the most dominant visual and physical feature of the Ürgüp city center. It not only affords an interesting visual spectacle from the point of view of the town, it is also a spot from which a beautiful view of the Cappadocian terrain to the north can be observed. The site comprises many monumental and residential cultural properties – among them, the House of John (Esat Ağa Konağı) – that have become part of the natural topography. John the Russian lived during the late Ottoman times and was regarded as a saint by the local Greeks. The House of John is especially worth mentioning as a place of pilgrimage that is annually visited by the Orthodox Greeks on the 27th of May. Looking at the settlement history of the city, Kayakapi is thought to be the first settlement area in Ürgüp. It is said that the oldest church of Ürgüp is the rock-carved church in the Kayakapi Neighbourhood. The fact that many of the notable citizens of Ürgüp are natives of this neighbourhood indicates the important contribution of Kayakapi to Ürgüp’s urban identity.
  After Kayakapi Neighbourhood was deserted, it in time gained an authentic and mysterious character through its half-ruined buildings and naturally evolved landscape. On the other hand, the natural deterioration of the site, as well as human interventions to remove certain architectural elements of the houses, has increased the pace at which the site is being damaged.
caption: General view over Kayakapi
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