Turkish Night at Uranos in Cappadocia [VIDEO]

The magical Turkish Night!


Belly dancing, regional folk dances, traditional costumes, all-you-can-eat and drink, in a cave…

I enthusiastically recommend attending a Turkish Night show when you visit Cappadocia.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Plan to arrive around 20:30 for the 21:00 show and leave around 23:00.
The price should be no more than 60TL (as of Fall 2012).
This includes the show (about 2 hours), four course dinner, and open bar.
The easiest way to make reservations is through your hotel.

ARRIVAL
You enter the underground palace through an overstated entrance and follow an extended tunnel. As you approach the end music fills the air adding to the growing anticipation of a fun evening.

Passing through the doorway into a massive spider-like cave room, a waiter walks you across the domed stage and up one of the five raised “arms” or spokes. Each spoke contains eight rows of tables with eight seats in each row. I sat in the very last row and can testify that there is not a bad seat in the house.

THE SHOW

A five-person band plays the music for the whole show. The best testimony to their talent was that they were almost invisible. At times I wondered if the music was pre-recorded!

A little after 9pm the dance troupe came out and greeted the crowd and began the first dances from Antep in southeast Turkey. The same group of dancers did every dance with little breaks to change uniforms throughout the night. During the dances the waiters served us the different courses and kept our glasses full. Every table is given two wine bottles and whatever other drinks they desire.


After a few acts the belly dancer came out and did 6-7 dances. The funniest parts of the night happened here as she invited “volunteers” out onto the dance floor and had them join in her body-shaking gyrations. They were good sports, and we had a good laugh and thanked God that we were not chosen.


Once she left the stage the troupe returned in different costumes. By the end of the night we clapped to Karadeniz (Black Sea), Artvin (Northeast), Kırklareli (near Istanbul), and Caucasus dances in addition to the Antep steps already mentioned. Uranos’ show does not include Whirling Dervishes, although some places around the area do; and some places only have Dervishes. If this is important to you, be sure to ask when making the reservation.

FOOD & STAFF
The main dish is lamb, but I recommend the chicken unless you really like lamb (it is not my favorite). Overall, the food was not the best I have eaten, but it was not bad and some dishes were excellent.


The dance troupe is made up of local Turks, some of whom I regularly see around town. Most, if not all, of them have day jobs at restaurants or hotels in Cappadocia. I was impressed with the talent especially of the men who had more opportunities to show off.

The waiters work seamlessly in difficult circumstances as they are carrying food and drinks while avoiding dancers and trying to get people’s attention in a loud environment. The service was excellent.


Again, the easiest way to make a reservation is through your hotel and be sure to include transportation as most of the show places are not easy to find or are a ways out of the nearest town. You do have the option of walking up and making your own reservation, but make sure to ask your hotel first so you will know whether you are getting a good deal or not.

Would you prefer a Turkish Night show with Whirling Dervishes, without Dervishes, or solely containing the spinning Sufi mystics?


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