Sümela Monastery

About Sümela Monastery

Greek Orthodox monastery and Tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site in Turkey

Sumela Monastery, the Monastery of the Virgin Mary, is one of the most famous and astonishing sights of north-eastern Turkey, clinging to a sheer cliff at about 1,200 metres in the Pontic Mountains, facing the Altındere valley inside Altındere National Park in the Maçka district of Trabzon province. Tradition dates its foundation to the 4th century; it flourished in Byzantine and early Ottoman times, when it enjoyed the patronage of the sultans, was ruined and rebuilt several times, enlarged and decorated in the 18th and 19th centuries, and remained in use until the Greek-Turkish population exchange of 1923. The complex consists of the Rock Church carved into the cave, covered with frescoes of biblical scenes, together with chapels, students' rooms, a library, a kitchen, a guest house and a spring held to be sacred, all stepped down the cliff face overlooking the forested valley. Many frescoes have been vandalised, but hidden chambers revealed during restoration have brought new paintings to light. The monastery was closed in 2015 because of rock falls and reopened in 2019 after stabilisation work; it is now a museum on UNESCO's tentative World Heritage list. The road up the valley past waterfalls and dense forest is part of the experience, and the view from across the valley is the image that sums up Trabzon for most visitors.

Where:

Trabzon, Türkiye