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A 190-year-old Greek Orthodox church in central Türkiye is being prepared to open to visitors as part of efforts to draw tourism beyond the better-known sites of the Cappadocia region.
St. Eustathios Church stands in Incesu, a district of Kayseri province about 45-50 kilometers (28-31 miles) from the Cappadocia destinations of Avanos, Urgup and Goreme. Built in 1836, the building is being converted into the Incesu City Museum.
The church features wall paintings, stonework and inscriptions in Karamanli, which is Turkish written in the Greek alphabet. Restoration began in 2021 and finished in 2025, according to the Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality. The work preserved the original structure along with its frescoes, reliefs and carvings.
Tayfun Talasli, head of the municipality's Historical Buildings and Museums Branch Directorate, said the restoration drew on archival photographs, documents and oral histories of people who had lived in the area.
The church served as a place of worship until the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Türkiye. It was later used as a military warehouse, archive, theater hall and vocational school, Talasli told Anadolu Agency.
Display and arrangement work is more than 80% complete, and officials plan to open the museum soon.
"We will create a museum on the ground floor, where we will tell about the city's tangible and intangible cultural heritage," Talasli said.
Visitors will be able to learn about Incesu's history, architecture, notable figures, archaeology, gastronomy, agriculture and grape production. Exhibits will include artifacts such as ceramics unearthed at the nearby Orensehir archaeological site.
The municipality hopes to include the church in the wider Cappadocia tourism destination, allowing visitors to combine the historic site with the region's established attractions.
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