Sumela Monastery

Seen from the valley road, Sumela Monastery looks almost impossible. A row of stone buildings is fixed to a sheer rock face far above the trees, with open air overhead and very little below. Some version of it has held on to that ledge for many hundreds of years, and today no sight along the Turkish Black Sea shore draws more people. A visit means a forest drive, a climb on foot, and then time around the courtyard and chapels and inside the cave church, whose walls carry paintings on the inside and the outside.

Key facts

History

Tradition says two Athenian monks, Barnabas and Sophronios, set up the monastery in the 4th century after discovering a Virgin Mary icon inside a cave in the cliff. People held that St Luke had painted it, and that icon explains the dedication to the Virgin under the name Panagia Soumela.

The community grew under Byzantine rule and later under the emperors of Trebizond. Ottoman sultans also showed it respect and upheld its privileges. Most of what stands now was built in the 18th and 19th centuries, while the cave church and a number of the frescoes are older. In 1923, during the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the monks left and carried the icon away; it now sits in a monastery in the north of Greece.

The buildings lay neglected for decades before a gradual restoration brought them back and let visitors in once more. Since 2010 an Orthodox service has been held here on 15 August for the Dormition feast, and it draws pilgrims from Greece and other countries.

What to look for

• The approach. A trail climbs through the trees to a flight of steps, and the steps lead you into the complex under the jutting rock.
• Cave church. This is the core of Sumela: a church set inside a cave, painted with frescoes on its inner and outer walls across several periods.
• Frescoes. Scenes from the Bible and from the lives of saints, with rows of figures in strong reds, blues and golds. Over the years vandals have scratched away many of the faces.
• Buildings around the courtyard. Monks' cells, a library, a kitchen, rooms for guests and a bakery, lined up on tight terraces.
• Aqueduct. A series of arches once brought water down from the mountain; you pass them near the entrance.

How to reach it

There is no regular bus or train to the site. Visitors usually come with a tour, or take a taxi or rental car from Trabzon. The road follows the Degirmendere river south to Macka and then climbs through dense woodland into Altindere Valley National Park. Count on about an hour in each direction from Trabzon. Near the monastery the park offers picnic spots and restaurants by the river where trout is on the menu.

Best time to visit

Late spring to early autumn is the busy season. Low cloud often sits in the valley. It may block the view of the monastery from the bottom, yet it lends the woods a moody atmosphere. On summer weekends visitors come from across Turkey; mornings on weekdays are calmer. Winter snow and ice can turn the trail tricky, so ask about conditions before you go.

Our Sumela full-day trip fills a whole day from Trabzon, adding Karaca Cave, Hamsikoy village and the Zigana Pass to Sumela. It runs for eight to nine hours and starts at US$120. If you want to see Trabzon too, our day in Trabzon itself covers the local Hagia Sophia and the historic quarters from US$75. Uzungol Lake is the other well-known day out from Trabzon.

Tips

• Leave time for the uphill path. The climb lasts 15 to 20 minutes starting at the lower area, with some steep stretches.
• Carry a rain jacket. The Black Sea weather is wet all year.
• Flash is not allowed around the frescoes.
• Stop in Hamsikoy, a village on the way, which is known for its rice pudding.
• Before you start walking, glance up from the bottom of the valley; the cliff view from there is often the best one.

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