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Mariam Nihal
Saudi Gazette
If you are headed to Trabzon in Turkey, make sure you visit Altindere National Park and its famous monastery. Sumela Monastery is located in Maçka village at Altindere. It is built on a ledge of a steep cliff on the slopes of the Black Mountain and refered to as “Meryem Ana” (Mother Mary). With an altitude of 300m, Sumela was built by Greek Bernanas and his nephew Sophronos in 395 AC. It was most popular during the 18th and 19th century and after the foundation of the Turkish Republic on 29th October 1923, Sumela Monastery stopped operating as a church. The Sumela Monastery is one of the main sites of the Altindere National Park. It was dedicated to Mary and was the centre of Christianity in the region. The Sumela Monastery is a Greek Orthodox monastery. It is said that Sumela comes from the word “melas”, which means “dark” or “black”. Many consider that this stems from the dark hues of the mountain valley in which it is situated.
Altindere Valley National Park was turned into a national park in 1987 and can be reached via the 48 km road connecting Trabzon to Macka. Make sure you are prepared for trekking in cold weather conditions during the month of October. Gear up with jackets and boots as the entrance of national park is via a narrow and long staircase uphill. It takes approximately 1 km to reach the entrance of the monastery which is located at an attitude of 1200 meters from the sea level. Most people visit between April and October for trekking and to visit the monastery of Sumela.
The ruins of a monastery can be seen on the slopes of the Zigana Mountains to the south of Trabzon. It is surrounded by a lush green dark forest and at the bottom it meets the Degirmendere Creek.
The place was also known for art even though much of the frescoes have deteriorated overtime with some remaining Turkish artwork on display in the courtyard and surrounding areas. Manuscripts and documents found at the monastery have since been catalogued and are now on display at the Ankara Museum and the Ayasofya museum in Istanbul.
Jevval Tourism and Travel Agency can help organize your trip with family and friends. They take care of domestic and international tour packages and flight reservations. It provides daily tours, hotel apartments and housing accommodiations. Jevval was established in 2010 by Duman Group.
Fly with Turkish Airlines, which operates three daily flights from Jeddah to Istanbul and more from around the country. According to UMB’s Official Airline Guide, Turkish Airlines flies to more countries in the world than any other airline (110 countries over five continents). In 2013, Turkish Airlines, was named “Best Airline in Europe” by Skytrax.
