Ortahisar means "middle castle," and as its name implies, it is central among the Cappadocian towns of Göreme, Ürgüp, Uçhisar and Nevşehir, and only a few kilometers from Göreme Open Air Museum.

Somehow, when tourism was growing rapidly in Cappadocia during the 1980s and 1990s, Ortahisarstayed more or less on the sidelines despite its central location.