Quarantine Cappadocia through the eyes of Ukrainian tourists. Part 6

24 June 2021 • Travel time: with 20 May 2021 on 27 May 2021

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Start here: Part 1 , Части 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 .

The technical part with maps, links and summary of all series is located here .

Day 4. The morning seemed gloomy and cold. Life did not prepare me for + 8 °))

The meower sat down in my place in the dining room, I had to pave nearby:

Another favorite model - a rose of an interesting purple hue:

Turkish balconies, like most of ours in season, are filled with pots of seedlings:

I start my day by visiting Gö reme Aç ik Hava Mü zesi (Open-Air Museum). Admission is 100 lire. Karanlik Kilise is paid separately, the price is 30 lira. It is forbidden to take photos in churches (this is monitored by specially trained people), and photography is allowed on the territory of the museum complex. And don't forget to wear a mask!

You can virtually walk through the museum by following the link . The temple images used below are mostly borrowed here: source 1 , source 2 , source 3 .

The museum is a huge monastery complex with churches, chapels, residential and farm buildings. Actively functioned for its intended purpose from the 4th to the 13th century. It is believed that this is where the system of monastic education was launched, which later spread to other regions of Anatolia.

In total, the complex has two dozen rock temples, but only some of them are open to the public (others are closed due to the risk of collapse).

Such closed ones include Rahibeler Manastiri. This 6-story cliff to the left of the museum entrance was once a convent. Until recently, visitors were allowed to the lower part of the building, now it is completely closed.

Aziz Basil Sapeli. St. Basil's Chapel dates back to the 11th century and is dedicated to one of the most revered Saints in Cappadocia. He, by the way, was born not far from these places, in the town of Kayseri.

Lattice niches in the floor are the graves of patrons and other respected people. The best preserved fresco depicts St. George, who was also born in Cappadocia.

I was most impressed by the open tomb and the skull with an expression of suffering on it (I never thought that bones could convey emotions so vividly).

Elmali Kilise. The Apple Church was built around the middle of the 11th century. It has four columns and nine domes. The entrance to it passes through a system of tunnels.

It is believed that the temple got its name from the ball held in the hands of the Archangel Michael, because it could be confused with an apple. And as we remember, the names of churches in the region are not authentic and were given by Muslims because they were most conspicuous in a particular church.

Photos of the road:

Azize Barbara Sapeli. This chapel was built by Byzantine warriors, dedicating it to their patron saint, St. Barbara. It dates back to the second half of the 11th century.

In this church I want to draw attention to two points. First, the painting in it is a striking example of the period of iconoclasm, when the temples were allowed to depict only symbols and ornaments. Secondly, the application of such patterns took place directly on the rock with red paint (ocher). This technique is the most durable, because over time the breed absorbs color and then the drawings can not even peel off.

Aziz Onuphrius Kilisesi . The 11th-century Church of St. Onuphrius is better known as Yilanli Kilise . It is small in size and is considered unfinished.

It got its name from the dragon overthrown by the Saints, which was apparently confused with the snake.

Interesting is the fresco depicting St. Onuphrius, whose clothes have only a fig leaf.

Near the churches were usually located living quarters: dining rooms, kitchens, barns. Clay kilns - tandoors and local monastery wineries have also been preserved. Note that the table and benches in the dining room are almost on the same level. This is because the monks had to eat by bowing low to the table, thus thanking God for their daily bread.

In one of the refectories on the end wall there is a fresco "The Mystery of the Supper", where the Body of Christ is represented in the form of a fish.

Let's move on:

The next church, according to the tablet, is called Isimsiz Sapeli. But the building with that name, according to the museum map, cannot be in this place. There should be a Malta Haç li Kilise or the Church of the Maltese Crusaders.

Ancient ventilation system:

Paintings in the temple are almost not preserved, only crosses on the ceiling and walls:

Another dilemma with crosses. One version calls them Maltese because they have a similar shape (hence the name of the church). Another theory states that these are the early Christian crosses of Constantine.

The third version sees here an encrypted monogram of the name of Christ (Ι Χ Θ Υ Σ or literally "fish"), which is inscribed in a circle - a symbol of the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth of the soul.

A cappella church singing is heard somewhere nearby. A group of nuns, who also came for the tour, so improvised and inspired, fills the local atmosphere with something emotional.

The museum complex, which before was only a collection of artifacts of days long past, is suddenly permeated with the energy of life itself. Time stops. The picture comes to life. Ants on the skin. The universe is perfectly able to bring people and circumstances in space to get the most impressive effect.

Karanlik Kilise. The Dark Church was built in the 11th century. It got its name because of the virtually no source of natural light, because it had a single window in the narthex.

The name of the church comes from two footprints (sandals) under the fresco of the Ascension. The prints represent the last footprint left by Jesus before ascending to heaven.

The fresco of the Ascension is considered an exact copy of the one in the church of the same name in Jerusalem.

According to the museum map, there is a monastery cemetery - Mezarlar (Graves).

Views of the valley and the territory of the monastery:

The last open church to visit is Tokali Kilise or the Buckled Church is one of the largest in Cappadocia. Located 100 meters from the main museum area.

The history of this temple begins in the 800s with a simple hermitage of a lone monk. A little later, a chapel was built around the hermit's dwelling (or is it better to say that it is being dug out? ) (Now this part is called the Old Church).

A few years later, the Lower Church appeared, which was conceived as a burial place for patrons and patrons of the church.

Finally, in the 960s, a majestic New Church was built, uniting existing churches into one complex. A master from Constantinople was invited to paint it, who used real gold and expensive blue pigments (blue lazurite) in his work.

Since 2011, Italian restorers have been coming here every summer and joining local craftsmen, continuing to meticulously restore old frescoes.

The church got its name because of the similarity of the large globe depicted in the apse to the buckle (I was surprised, surprised, but I never saw the buckle there, apparently I have an underdeveloped imagination)).

Translated automatically from Ukrainian. View original