Nevşehir is the capital of Nevşehir Province in Turkey. Historically, Nevşehir was a small village, called Nyssa, founded on the slopes of Mount Kahveci, in the valley of Kızılırmak (the ancient Halys) by the Hittites. It later came under the rule of the Assyrians, who were taken over by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in 546 BC. The traditional main sources of income of the city,carpet weaving and viticulture have been overtaken by tourism, because of its proximity to the underground shelters, the fairy chimneys, monasteries, caravanserais and the famous rock-hewn churches of Göreme.