Malatya hill-station Population: 2,000 (winter) – 4,000 (summer) approx
***Malatya was badly damaged by the earthquakes of 2023. I don’t know if the damage extended to Gündüzbey.***
Where does a Malatyalı apricot trader go when they want to escape the heat of the city over a summer weekend?
Perhaps to Gündüzbey, a leafy hillside suburb to the southwest just beyond Yeşilyurt.
Both suburbs had a large stock of late Ottoman houses that were slowly crumbling away until the Ministry of Culture undertook a major block restoration. This saw many of the buildings given new roofs, windows and doors, with some of the mud-brick walls concreted to stabilise them and paint stripped away from features such as wooden chimneybreasts, internal verandahs etc.
The result is a delightful small suburb that deservedly won an award in 2013 as Turkey’s most liveable and aesthetically appealing city. The greenery alone would have been enough to swing the judges but this comes combined with a water channel that gurgles its way through the town centre, sending off little branches to water the gardens around it.
As in neighbouring Yeşilyurt and nearby Eski Malatya many of the old houses have soaring wooden superstructures designed for the storage of wood and edibles to get families through the freezing Anatolian winter.
Many of the houses were once painted pale blue although today the locals say that they prefer white. Certainly the restorers have eschewed pastel colours. The result is a certain sameness about the buildings but that would be to quibble unnecessarily when the overall appearance is so charming.
Eating
Up on the hillside at the far end of the village the Yörük Sofrası is one of those wonderfully Turkish places that seems to defy the word “restaurant” with its array of kiosks and platforms on many different levels.
The views out over the tree-clad fields and hills is delightful though you may have to share your köfte (meatballs) with the wasps attracted by the fruit trees. Prices are a little steep for the food but not if you consider the setting. Avoid summer weekends if you don’t want to be engulfed by Turkish families.
In the centre of the village look out for the delightful Çamlı Konağı, a cafe-restaurant with nargiles set out in the garden of a newly restored house whose courtyard is framed with wooden galleries.
Transport info
Frequent dolmuşes leave Egemenlik Caddesi in the centre of Malatya and run until quite late in the evening, passing through Yeşilyurt on the way to Gündüzbey.
Day trip destinations
