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Sustainability

Founded on the north-eastern slope of the heights known as the Esbelli Rock in Ürgüp centre, Kayakapi Neighbourhood is one of the city's first historic residential areas. Kayakapı Neighbourhood is located within the boundaries of "Göreme National Park and the Cappadocia Rocky Areas" which were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.

The Neighbourhood took the architectural form of today in the 18th and 19th Centuries following the "Tulip Era" marked by Damat Ibrahim Pasha of Nevsehir, the Grand Vezir of the Ottoman Empire. During this period, Kayakapı also known as "Landowners’ Neighbourhood" in Ürgüp, was adorned by large mansions of the five Aghas (Landowners) who prospered thanks to iltizam (privilege of collecting taxes on behalf of the Emperor) and their families. Although being a Muslim Neighbourhood, the area hosts elements, which have great value for the Orthodox population in the then cosmopolitan city of Ürgüp. These include the rock churches which give rise to thought that there may have been Christian life in the area much earlier periods, plus the structure whose original name was Eset Agha’s Mansion, also known as House of Saint John the Russian, referring to a Greek "folk saint". Kayakapı and House of Saint John the Russian, is today one of the stops of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Istanbul at his annual visit to Cappadocia.

A total of 27 hectares made up of 258 lots, the area consists of 6.5 acres (182 parcels) built in a dense urban texture at the upper elevations sloping land and 20.5 acres (76 lots) in the lower levels of the land, consisting of open space used partly for agricultural purposes. 421 units of traditional buildings in urban texture, made by rock carving and masonry techniques and organically integrated with each other, have been identified by the analyses conducted within the Kayakapı Project. In addition, there are monumental and civil buildings such as churches, mosques, baths, fountains, housing etc., in part currently registered or proposed to be registered and 20 units of cultural and natural property consisting of dovecote and chimney rocks to be protected. Open areas within the boundaries of Kayakapı are registered as the 1st and 3rd degree natural site and the urban texture is registered as the urban site according to 1:25,000 scale site borders prepared in 1999 by Nevsehir Culture and Natural Heritage Protection Board.

In 1969, Kayakapı Neighbourhood was also subject to the disaster area announcement, which was a general policy adopted by the Turkish Government at that times. As a result of the policy evacuation process followed and was completed in 1984, the majority of the population in the neighbourhood were settled in the "Disaster Houses", founded on the east bank of Damsa Creek, passing through the city. As a result of these developments, with half-ruined buildings and natural elements, the present Kayakapı Neighbourhood, has become a mysterious texture in the memory of the city on one hand and on the other hand it has entered into the process of gradually becoming extinct.

The tourism sector relies on natural, historical and cultural resources. For this reason, our main principle has been to protect natural, cultural and historical resources and to work for the benefit of our employees and local people. Based on the concepts of Sustainable Tourism, Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection, in all processes in our Kayakapı Premium Caves hotel;

  • ⦁ To comply with international legal regulations, environmental laws/legislation and other obligations approved by official authorities,
  • ⦁ To contribute to continuous improvement through action plans by establishing environmental risks and targets,
  • ⦁ To communicate with all relevant parties and share information when necessary,
  • ⦁ Supporting the environmental activities of public and private organisations and participating in environmental activities
  • ⦁ To protect natural resources and use them in the most efficient way,
  • ⦁ To prevent the factors that cause pollution of nature and to reduce the carbon footprint,
  • ⦁ To keep potential environmental impacts under control from the design phase to the end of the life cycle; to minimise damages,
  • ⦁ Reducing or controlling and recovering wastes at source as much as possible in order to prevent pollution,
  • ⦁ To use environmentally friendly products by adopting the concept of life cycle,
  • ⦁ To make efforts to ensure sustainability in the supply chain and to be able to implement fair trade practices,
  • ⦁ Prefer regional and local suppliers and partners,
  • ⦁ Minimising the CO2 emission of delivery vehicles by selecting as close as possible in the procurement process and minimising the emission to be released to nature,
  • ⦁ Support the conservation of local or international biodiversity,
  • ⦁ To ensure that all kinds of waste generated at the end of the activities carried out in our hotel are separated at the source according to their characteristics, collection, temporary storage, recovery, transport, disposal and control after disposal,
  • ⦁ To ensure all kinds of monitoring, measurement, analysis and control in order to minimise the environmental impacts resulting from our activities and to prevent environmental pollution,
  • ⦁ To act according to the Regulation on Environmental Noise Assessment and Management,
  • ⦁ To reduce the energy consumed as much as possible by using energy efficient machinery and equipment,
  • ⦁ To increase the environmental responsibility awareness of all our employees and suppliers by providing visual and practical training on the environment to all our employees in our facility,
  • ⦁ To carry out trainings with all our employees in order to continuously increase our personal development, skills, experience and knowledge,
  • ⦁ To ensure full compliance with all laws regulating human rights and labour life,
  • ⦁ To pay utmost attention to ensuring equal opportunities in recruitment processes, improving working standards, and to follow a fair and transparent recruitment policy,
  • ⦁ To ensure the employment of all individuals who have the education, experience and competencies required by the position they will work in, as well as personality traits compatible with our corporate culture and values, in all positions, including management, without discrimination due to age, race, gender, religion, disability, socio-economic status, etc,
  • ⦁ To provide equal, standardised and safe working conditions for all our employees,
  • ⦁ To create a healthy and safe working and living environment for all our employees, subcontractors and guests,
  • Danger to which our employees may be exposed.
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