Uchisar is the name of a town and the fortress in the town. The name of the town probably derives from the name of the fortress. Uc is "tip", hisar is "fortress" and Uchisar is the "fortress at the tip (of the vicinity)" in Turkish.

This 60-meter-high (200 ft) fortress was not built but carved out of a natural hill dominating the area with a breathtaking view of all the surrounding Cappadocian formations. In the village directly below the fortress are dozens of tufa cones inside of which are hollowed out rooms. Many of these are still in use.

The rock massif of Uçhisar was inhabited in both the Byzantine and Ottoman periods and we can see traces of these settlements even today.People have lived in the Uçhisar fortress and its outskirts till recent times but have left the area because of rock erosion.