Guide
Sobesos is an ancient city in the village of Şahinefendi, twenty-three kilometres from Ürgüp. Some remains around the village were noticed by chance and examined, and when it became clear that an ancient city stood here the Nevşehir Museum Directorate began excavation in 2002.
The city was founded at the head of the Soğanlı valley on volcanic ground, in a position secure in strategic terms and on fertile land. When it was first found it was taken for the capital of the kingdom of Cappadocia, but no evidence was recovered to support that and the claim was given up.
The excavations carried out between 2002 and 2005 brought to light remains dated to the fourth century AD. Among them is a chapel of the sixth century, thought to have been a dwelling first and to have been turned into a chapel later, built by one of the powerful aristocrats of Cappadocia.
The most striking of the finds are the floor mosaics, fifteen hundred years old, worked with skill in coloured stone and glass. Their motifs include the swastika, the cross, the meander, the eight-pointed star and the plait.
