Soğanlı lies in a side valley of Cappadocia that most tour buses skip, south-east of Ürgüp and Yeşilhisar, on the slopes of the volcanic uplands. The name means with onions, which tells you something about the humble character of the place. The valley sides are made of soft volcanic tuff, which the local Christians carved out in the Byzantine centuries into churches, chapels, monasteries, and houses. Many of the rock churches date from the ninth to the thirteenth century and keep fragments of frescoes: Karabaş, the Yılanlı or Snake church, the Barbara church and others, whose names reflect old stories more than documented history.
Unlike the better known valleys at Göreme, Soğanlı is quiet, spread over two arms of a small valley with scattered cones, cliffs and dovecotes. The pigeon houses, cut into the rock, were used to collect droppings for the vineyards and fields. The village has long been known for handmade cloth dolls, sold by local women under the trees near the entrance, and a walk up the valley, with the tuff glowing pink and grey in the afternoon light, is one of the pleasures of the area.
The roads to Soğanlı run through high, open country at around fifteen hundred metres, with the huge snowy cone of Mount Hasan, a dormant volcano, in the distance. The surface is generally good but the bends are a bit gentle and the traffic is light, mostly farm vehicles, dolmuş minibuses and the odd tour coach. Cold winds can come off the highlands, and winters are severe, with snow and frost, so it is best to visit from April to October. Summer afternoons are hot and dry, and early morning is the nicest time.
Derinkuyu, the underground city, is on the same ride, and the plateau between the two is a lovely, empty landscape of fields and low hills. Fuel is found in Yeşilhisar, Derinkuyu and Ürgüp, all towns of between twelve and seventeen thousand people, but not in the valley itself. Local restaurants in Ürgüp serve testi kebab, a stew cooked in a sealed clay pot and broken open at the table, which is the speciality of the region. Bring water and a hat for the walk, and expect a number of steep paths and stone steps.