“With a Camel” Population: 36,000
The small town of Develi, south of Kayseri, is not immediately inviting since public transport brings visitors into the unplanned modern centre. To find older Develi you will need to walk down to the main square and then turn right and follow the main road as it skirts the square. Keep going and you will soon see, on your left, a grand stone building that was built as a Middle School in 1923 and is still an educational establishment.
Keep on going and you will see on the right what was once the Armenian church of St Mary and has been since 1978 the Asağı Everek Cami (Lower Everek Mosque). It’s an enormous building with a curved portico and some elaborate non-figurative carvings on the facade and around the door. Inside it’s now a cavernous empty space with a mihrab inserted into what used to be the east wall. Frescoes that once covered the walls were painted over when the church was turned into a mosque.
If you cross the main road from the church-mosque and plunge into the back streets you will come across some once fine stone houses, mostly in a very poor state of repair. The most attractive have been painted a bright blue that makes for a dazzling sight on a sunny day.
Most of these house survive in the old Armenian (Everek) and Greek (Vereki) neighborhoods.
As you leave town on the Yahyalı road you may see, to the left of the road, the Selçuk türbe (tomb, 1094) of Deve Ali, an Oğuz chieftain after whom the town was later named.
Eating
Develi is renowned locally for its çıvıklı, a crispy take on the pide which sometimes comes topped with chunks of lamb. You can try it out at the Gözde Lokantası (Aşık Seyranı Caddesi) for whose tasty food it’s worth braving the overly bright and breezy decor. The house specialty is slices of covered pide stuffed with honey-drizzled ground walnuts. Delicious.
Sleeping
There are several small hotels in town for emergencies but you’re better off heading back to Kayseri for a better choice of places to stay.
Transport info
There are regular buses from Kayseri to Develi passing the Erciyes Dağı ski resort on the way.
