AVANOS ( VENESSA )

The ancient name of the town of Avanos is Vanessa. The main economic activity in the town is pottery, a craft dating back to the Hittite period. The red clay which is worked by local craftsmen comes from the residue in the Kızılırmak river. On the banks of the Kızılırmak near to Avanos, a marble sarcophagus was found in a Roman necropolis. It is particularly interesting as it is the first sarcophagus was disovered in 1971, but unfortunately someone had already opened the gable roof lid and stolen the contenst.

After pathological and paleoanthropological tests on the the body and sarcophagusit has been established that the body belonged to a woman, whose hair was dyed with henna. The 13th century Sarihan Caravansary and the Ottoman Alaaddin mosque are interesting pieces of architecture in the area.

Avanos is also famous with its historical ‘Chain Bridge’ and the special ‘isle’ build fort he ‘Ducks’ to protect the populations of them.