The historical Sümela Monastery in Türkiye’s northern province of Trabzon province provides guests nature, historical past and tradition and has hosted practically 600,000 guests since 2021, a Turkish official mentioned.
The monastery occupies the highest spot amongst native and international guests, carved into rocks at 300 meters (984 toes) above the Altindere Valley of Trabzon’s Maçka district.
“After the restoration, the monastery reopened on July 1, 2021, and welcomed 597,742 visitors until June 29, 2023, despite being closed for certain periods,” Tamer Erdoğan, the director of the provincial directorate of tradition and tourism in Trabzon, instructed Anadolu Agency (AA) not too long ago.
Erdoğan famous that the monastery hosted 153,994 vacationers in 2021 when it reopened and 339,457 guests in 2022.
He additional mentioned that the monastery had welcomed 104,291 guests within the first six months of this yr, bringing the overall variety of home and international vacationers between July 1, 2021, and June 29, 2023, to 597,742.
The actual date of the development of the enduring construction, also referred to as Mother Mary or Virgin Mary, just isn’t exact. However, a number of research level to it being based by monks from Athens someday round A.D. 386, through the reign of Roman Emperor Theodosius I.
Highlighting the monastery’s historical past, Erdoğan mentioned, “The Sümela Monastery, listed on UNESCO’s tentative heritage list, is visited by numerous domestic and foreign tourists throughout the year, and the number of visitors is increasing yearly.”
Erdoğan emphasised that the coincidence of the Eid al-Adha vacation with the tourism season prompted many individuals to incorporate Trabzon of their vacation plans, noting that they anticipate the variety of guests would surge in comparison with the earlier yr through the vacation interval.
“The restoration works of the monastery have been completed, and conservation and documentation studies on the frescoes on the exterior surface of the main rock church inside the monastery are ongoing,” he mentioned.
Underlining that Altındere Valley National Park, the place the monastery is positioned, is a pure surprise, Erdoğan famous that the rising curiosity within the area was noticed after putting in particular lighting within the monastery advanced.
“With its rich flora and fauna, the national park, which has the most beautiful natural scenery in the Eastern Black Sea Region, covers an area of 4,800 hectares. The interior, exterior, aqueducts and environmental lighting of the Sümela Monastery created a sparkling image. The local people and tourists also highly appreciated the visual beauty that emerged. After the lighting, we observed an increase in interest in Sümela Monastery,” he mentioned.
One of the main touristic places within the Eastern Black Sea space, the monastery was reopened for non secular observe on Aug. 15, 2010, with permission from the Culture and Tourism Ministry, following decades-long hiatus.
Hüseyin Çiçek, who went on a tour of the area together with his household from Bursa, said that they got here to Sümela Monastery for the primary time and mentioned: “Anatolia has a rich cultural history, and thankfully the great Republic of Türkiye is claiming this cultural heritage with its right. It signifies our nation’s tolerance and respect for history.”
“We wanted to see the historical beauties of this place while we were here. It was very nice and enjoyable,” mentioned one other customer Cihan Durukhan, who got here for a go to from southern Gaziantep province.
Nino Tavartgiladze, who got here to the area with a tour from neighboring Georgia, famous it was his first go to to the Sümela Monastery and mentioned: “We loved this place; it is wonderful. We recommend it to everyone.”
The world-famous Sümela Monastery, certainly one of Türkiye’s vital non secular tourism websites, was closed to guests in September 2015 as a consequence of rockfall danger.
The restoration of the monastery advanced started in February 2016 and was accomplished after landscaping, geological and geotechnical analysis and rock strengthening.
The monastery was briefly opened in July 2021 after restoration, however as a result of hazard posed by rocks dangling above it, the positioning was briefly closed between November 2021 and May 2022.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
