“Pasha Taşkın” Village Population: 400
Old names: Damsa, Tamisus
If you’re driving from Ürgüp or Mustafapaşa to Soğanlı you will pass through the small village of Taşkınpaşa where, on the lefthand side of the road, you’ll see the grand portal of what was once an early 14th-century medrese (theological school). Surrounded by the elaborate carved layers typical of Selçuk architecture, the portal now leads into a modern library. The medrese probably once formed part of a complex with the local mosque whose magnificent wooden mihrab and mimber are preserved in the Ethnographic Museum in Ankara. The mosque (1350) can be found uphill in the old part of the village; if it’s locked when you arrive someone will probably come to open it.
Taşkın Paşa himself is buried in an open-sided türbe (tomb) beside the mosque. Here, too, there is a Selçuk-style kümbet (conical tomb) with the sarcophagus of a local holy man in its basement.
Taşkınpaşa is a pretty traditional village with some fine whitewashed stone houses with typical Cappadocian carvings around their windows. Look out for a fine tripartite çeşme (fountain) and for the many “Maşallah” protective inscriptions on the facades of houses, most of them dating from the 1960s onwards.
Transport info
Without your own car you will need to look for a local tour to Soğanlı that includes a stop in Taşkınpaşa.
