Dragon 青竜

Tokalı Kilise (or the Church of the Buckle), is the largest church in Göreme. Restoration of the church was completed during the 1980s. The only surviving example of its architectural origins is the Church of Mar Yakub in the Tur Abdin region located around present day Mardin. One noted feature of the church is the main nave containing ninth century frescoes in "provincial" style, the more recent additions are three apses of the 11th-century frescos, which are rendered in "metropolitan" style. The church contains frescos of the twelve apostles, the saints and scenes from the life of Jesus. The church also has a crypt underneath the nave. The Buckle Church is formed of four chambers: the Old Church, the larger New Church, the side chapel (parekklesion), and the Lower Church. The Old Church dates to the 10th century. It was originally a single-naved barrel-vaulted church. But its apse was destroyed when the New Church was added at the end of the 10th or early 11th...

The large rock mass of 6-7 floors to the left of the entrance to the museum is known as the Nunnery or, more commonly known as Kız Monastery. The ruined chapel on the second floor, with its dining hall, kitchen and first floor consisting of several rooms, is still accessible to visit. The church, which is reached through a tunnel on the third floor, has a cross plan and has a dome supported by four columns and three abscesses. This is rarely seen in the Göreme churches in the main apse. Also, it can be seen in the red fresco, symbolizing the pain of Jesus, depicted on the rock. Connections between the floors were provided by tunnels and millstone doors that we know from underground cities, which were used to be closed at time of danger. Due to the crumbling of the tunnels that provide these transitions, only some lower floors can be visited. Source:  KIZLAR MANASTIRI - Cappadocia

Situated between the Karanlik (Dark) Church and the Carikli Church, the Chapel of St. Catherine it has a free-cross nave and narthex. The central bay is covered by a dome and the cross arms are barrel-vaulted. It's apse is closed by a templon. The narthex has nine floor graves and two arcosolia (burial niches). Only in the nave of the chapel are some decorations with figures. The pendentives are decorated with carvings. The Chapel of St. Catherine, built by a donor named Anna, dates back to the 11th century. Source:  Chapel of St. Catherine - Goreme.org

Çarıklı Kilise (the Church with Sandals) the name comes from the two footprints at the bottom of the Ascension fresco at the church's entrance (this fresco is said to be an exact copy of the one contained at the Church of the Ascension in Jerusalem). The church is cut into the same rock as Karanlik Kilise. The footprints themselves, have many unconfirmable legends attached to them. The church is carved into a cross floor plan with intersecting vaults. The church's frescos, which date to the 11th century, contain the four Evangelists, the Nativity and the Crucifixion, the Baptism, the Adoration of the Magi, and other New Testament themes. Source:  Churches of Göreme - Wikipedia

Yılanlı Kilise (the Snake Church) is a simple barrel-vaulted church with a low ceiling and long nave. It is named for the fresco of Saints Theodore and St George slaying the dragon (or snake as depicted in the fresco). The church also has a fresco of Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena depicted holding the True Cross. Legend has it that she discovered the cross upon which Jesus was crucified after seeing it in a dream, and that a piece of the cross is still buried in the foundations of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Other sections of the cross are in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and in St. Peter's in Rome. Another interesting portrait is the one of Saint Onuphrius on the upper wall to the right of the entrance. The saint lived the life of a hermit in the Egyptian desert near Thebes, Egypt and is usually depicted with a long gray beard and wearing only a fig leaf. Source:  Churches of Göreme - Wikipedia