The monastery on the road between
Trabzon and
Erzurum is also known as
Virgin Mary Monastery. According to a legend the monastery was built in 412 AD upon request of
Mary from Barnabas and his nephew to build a monastery. It is known that this monastery was enlarged during the reign of
Emperor Justinianus. Although it is supposed that the name
Sumela stems from the dark hues of the mountain valley , another opinion is that the word
Sumela is an adjective used for
Mary. On the other hand, there exists another opinion that the monastry which was named “
Panagia Tou Melas” during the
Greek Ponthus Empire in 1204 AD in the course of time turned to
Soulmela . It is known that there are manuscripts in the library inside the monastery and that this library was extended in the year 644 AD. The building is four storey and consists of 72 rooms. Also in the building there are a dining hall, a kitchen, monk’s rooms, a sacred spring and the cave church. In the first section of the
Sumela Monastry comprising two sections there is a temple and in this temple there are frescoes depicting matters from the bible. The second section comprises the bed rooms, salons, libraries, cellars and food stores. Every year on the 14th of
August a ceremony is organized here. After
Istanbul was seperated from the
West Roman Empire, the
Byzantine Emperor Justinianus ( 527-568) ordered the fortification of
Trabzon and enlargement of this monastery and gave a library to the monastery. When
Fatih Sultan Mehmet conquered
Trabzon on 26 October 1461 he , as he did in
İstanbul, took many
churces including the
Hagia Sophia church and
Sumela Mıonastry under his patronage and has even granted these land and gold.
Yavuz Sultan Selim, who got sick while he was hunting was brought to the
Virgin Mary Monastery and was cured by the priests. When he returned to
İstanbul and became throned he remembered the priests who cured him and the church and granted them land, gold and four 1,5 m high golden candlesticks.
Sultan Ahmet III, in 1710, ordered the restoration of the inner walls and renovation of the frescoes and
Sultan Mahmut I , in 1740, ordered the renewal of the frescoes on other sections and they met the expenses. In the 19th century the number of the priests reached one hundred and the land they owned was further enlarged with the gifts of
Sultan Abdülhamid and the monastery became the owner of 15 villages in the neighbourhood. The importance of the
Virgin Mary Monastery which is the oldest
Christian place of worship of the
Black Sea region comes from is rather unique structure located in a marvellous place within the nature and its wall and ceiling embellishments . The monastry comprises two sections. In the first section there is the place for worshipping , a sacred spring where the water drips from the rock in triple form and 3-4 small chapels. The interior and exterior of the worshipping area are decorated with frescoes depicting events from the
Bible. The second section on the other hand comprises four storeys covering the bedrooms on the right, salons, libraries, food depots and lavatories which you reach by going down the stairs coming after the main entrance. This part of the monastery is reached by means of 96 steps. Restoration works in the monastery are still carried on.
