With a programme launched in May 2021, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) selected the best tourism villages that preserve their communities, local customs and cultural heritage. At the organisation's 24th General Assembly in Madrid, the village of Mustafapaşa (Sinasos) was declared a "Best Tourism Village". Ürgüp District Governor Mehmet Maraşlı received the award from UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.
Through its "Best Tourism Villages" programme, UNWTO aims to highlight tourism's power to drive rural development and improve the wellbeing of local communities, and to help close the gaps in opportunity faced by women, young people and disadvantaged groups. It stresses that a village's natural environment, biological and cultural diversity and way of life, including local food, can be preserved and turned into economic value.
Formerly known as Sinasos, the village stands out for some 200 listed buildings dating from the 9th century through the Middle Ages (Byzantine), Ottoman and early Republican periods, as well as its local culture and traditions.
Mustafapaşa is a unique cultural mosaic, blending the shared way of life of its Christian and Muslim residents before the Lausanne population exchange with the heritage of the Macedonian migrants who arrived with the exchange. Nujel'm was built in the spirit of this village's architecture.
