in Nevşehir Province. An important find dating from the late Roman – early Byzantine period is a very large floor mosaic and building complex, the first of its kind in the region, which was uncovered by the Nevşehir Museum officials, in Şahin Efendi (Söviş) village, near Soğanlı Valley, in early 2002. From later periods, Rükneddin Kılıç Aslan and Altıkapılı Mausoleums (Türbe) should be mentioned. One of the important Islamic monuments in this region is the Taşkınpaşa Complex (Külliye) in Damsa Village, which is known to exist since the Karamanoğlu Principality. It is noteworthy that in the 19th century, Cappadocian settlements such as Mustafapaşa (Sinasos), Derinkuyu (Malekopia) and Ürgüp hosted concentrated populations of the Anatolian Greek citizens of the Ottoman Empire. As testimony to this, many churches are seen in the region today. The settlement of Ürgüp, or St. Prokopios – its oldest known name, was founded as a little town with cave houses carved into steep rocks on the valley of Tomisos (today Damsa) stream. The main historical spot is the rock formation also known as Esbelli, the center of settlement in Ürgüp. It is surrounded with dwellings and ruins of other buildings carved into the land or made with local stones, part of which forms Kayakapi Neighbourhood. Transportation and Settlement System Today, lying 17 km east of Nevşehir, Ürgüp is a major tourism center with its naturally carved topographical shapes, underground cities and rock-carved churches. The city is located on the Nevşehir – Kayseri highway and also has a developed transportation system reaching smaller centers such as Avanos, Ortahisar, Uçhisar and Göreme, due to its interactive economical and social relations. There are regular buses, which come to Ürgüp as well as daily / specialized tours, mostly because it is a preferred place by travel agencies. The ring road passing north of the city is partially completed and urban development continues on the east and northeast, towards the plains of Damsa Stream and the hills on the Kayseri road. In the latest planning works (see Background of Project Development), the lack of urban sub-centers is recognized. New regulations have been brought about to slowly move small-scaled industrial areas to the outskirts of the city. Although as much as 25 hectares of the city were declared tourism areas in the Implementation Plan, due to the excessive amount of financing that is needed, investments could be realized on only half of that