84 Steps Down to Amazing--Sumela Monastery

Day 9, part 2 (April 8, 2013) of our OAT's Turkey's Sacred lands and Ancient Civilizations Tour. We traveled from Erzurum to Trabzon on our luxury bus and visited the Sumela Monastery (the bus ride from Erzurum to Trabzon is covered in another post: The Black Sea Beckons)

The Sumela Monastery 

The Sumela Monastery stands at the foot of a steep cliff facing the Altindere valley near Macka in Trabzon Providence of Turkey. It is a Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The monastery was founded in 386 AD, has fallen into ruin several times and has been restored by various emperors.

Following the conquest by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in 1461, it was granted the sultan's protection and given rights and privileges that were renewed by following sultans. The monastery remained a popular destination for monks and travelers through the years.

Today the monastery's primary function is as a tourist attraction. It overlooks forests and streams, making it extremely popular for its aesthetic attraction as well as for its cultural and religious significance.

The inner and outer walls of the Rock Church and the walls of the adjacent chapel are decorated with frescoes. The main subject of the frescoes are biblical scenes telling the story of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Getting there

You can walk or take a mini bus up 900 meters to the monastery. Once there, you enter the monastery by climbing up a long, narrow staircase. I think there were 72 steps up to the entrance gate and then 84 steps down to the courtyard level.

View into the valley and it's golden river

Sumela Monastery

After you arrive at the monastery, it's 72 steps to the gate house

The Monastery

The stone church  is on the left, not visible from this angle
It's 84 steps down to the courtyard

Roger, Noreen, Nurdan and Ozan

Rapt Attention

Stone Church Exterior

Have I mentioned how beautiful this church is?

Stone church

The Annunciation

Stone Church Interiors

Have I mentioned how beautiful this church is?

Mary and Jesus

Fresco applied over an older fresco

Thought to be a rare image of God

Jesus
This is the dome of the church

Daniel and the Lion

 Many of the walls are damaged by graffiti.

Graffiti damage

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