Three Beauties

What makes it special

The name, Üç Güzeller, means the Three Beauties. In one legend, a young princess fell in love with a shepherd. A prayer was answered, and the princess, the shepherd and their child were turned to stone, which is how the three chimneys are read.

Turkey's tourism board gives the three a second meaning: love, family and loyalty.

Each chimney wears a cap, and those capped shapes set this group apart from other fairy chimneys in Cappadocia. The rest of each chimney is ignimbrite, the volcanic rock the whole formation stands in.

Here the cap is a layer of pumice, a light volcanic stone, lying within that ignimbrite. The caps at Çavuşin and Paşabağ formed differently.

Visiting

The main viewing terrace runs along the front of the chimneys, and the onlookers there stand in one straight line along the edge. Step into the line when a place opens up.

Then climb to the viewing hill behind the terrace, where a wooden walkway runs across the top. It looks back over all three chimneys from higher ground.

For a closer look at the base, take the dirt path that goes a little further down below the chimneys, and stay within safe limits on it.

Tips

Wear trainers. Other shoes can be hard going here, and the dirt path below the chimneys is part of the visit.

Tour buses stop here every day of the year and the crowd keeps growing through the afternoon, so avoid the afternoon crowds if you want space along the terrace.