Surroundings, Nigde

Bor, or Poros in antiquity, is a carpet-weaving town, lying some 15km/9mi south of Nigde in the fertile Bor Ovasi plain. Split in half by the Human Çayi, the plain is surrounded by steep-sided tuff rocks. During Byzantine times Poros came to replace the ancient town of Tyana. Around 1205, it is thought that the Seljuks founded a small Islamic settlement here and surrounded it with a clay brick wall (now ruined). It was here that 100 mortars produced gunpowder for the Ottoman troops using the saltpeter deposits in Kemerhisar. Places of interest in the town include the oldest mosque, Sari Cami (Yellow Mosque; 1205), the Ottoman Kale Camii (Castle Mosque; 1629) and the Seljuk caravanserai Bor Hani.

Barely 10km/7mi northeast of Nigde lies the town of Gümüs where a gorge separates Eski Gümüsler and Yeni Gümüsler. The former's man-made rock caves are reminiscent of the Cappadocian Zelve canyon. Some well-preserved frescoes which date from the 11th century can be found in a rock church in the northern part of the town. The church with an inner courtyard was formerly used as stables and its original function may well have been as a fortified church or a retreat, while the frescoes show Mary with child between the Archangels Gabriel and Michael, the Annunciation and the birth of Jesus. The dome of the square church rests on four pillars. The central apse on the east side shows a three-part fresco with Jesus, the Archangel Gabriel, Mary, the four Evangelists with symbols, the Apostles and the Early Fathers.

Kemerhisar (formerly Kilisehisar) lies 25km/16mi south of Nigde and is scattered over three hills on the site of the ancient town of Tyana. Semiramis the legendary queen of Assyria and founder of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon is thought to have been instrumental in establishing Tyana, which existed here from 1200 B.C. as a late Hittite principality, named Tuhana after the decline of the Hittite Empire. In the second half of the eighth century B.C. one of the rulers was Varpavalas whose stele can be seen in an Istanbul Museum. Ancient remains on the site include a Doric marble pillar on the "Hill of Semiramis" and 15 linked tuff and marble arches ("kemer", arches) of a Roman aqueduct. A path leads from the south of the site to the Baths of Kemerhisar (Kemerhisar Içmesi) which is mentioned in ancient writings. The warm water (15°C/60°F) containing sodium hydrogen carbonate, magnesium carbonate and salt was drunk for its healing powers. The site also comprises a bathing pool.