GOREME OPEN AIR MUSEUM
Göreme Open Air Museum is one of the most visited points of Cappadocia in Turkiye. Göreme Open Air Museum is one of Turkiye most important museums and ruins, and it is estimated that it operated until the 4th and 13th centuries AD, when monastic life was intense. It has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1985. St. Basil and St. Theory, who were influential in the spread of Christianity, were the subjects often depicted in his paintings, Hz. Jesus and St. Mary is in the form of quotations from the Bible and the Torah.
Nuns/Girls Convent
The monastery for girls/nuns is located on the left at the entrance of the Göreme Open Air Museum. The monastery, where female students receive religious education, consists of 7 floors, but only 2 floors are open to visitors for security reasons. The sections in the girls’ monastery; church, chapel, rooms, kitchen and dining hall. The floors are connected to each other through tunnels. on the 1st floor; While you can see the kitchen, dining hall and a few rooms, you can see the ruined chapel on the 2nd floor.
Priests/Men’s Convent
It is a storeyed building consisting of similar sections and just opposite the nuns’ monastery. It consists of 4 floors where male students continue their religious education. Due to erosion in the tunnels connecting the floors of the monastery, only the ground floor is open to visitors.
St. Basil’s Chapel
It is the first church visited as it is located opposite the museum entrance. The building, which is supposed to date back to the 11th century, has 3 apses (the temple-altar part of the church).
In the narthex (west part of the church), separated by columns; burial niches (tomb built into the wall) and burial places on the ground will attract your attention. grave niches; Due to the sacred hierarchy of the church, it is estimated that the Chapel belongs to the founder and his family.
Red ocher was used in the picture descriptions in the apse. In the front apse, Saint. Mary and child Jesus, in the main apse Saint Jesus is holding the holy book in his hand, there are depictions of equestrian saints and two saints on the north and south walls.
Elmalı Church
The main entrance of the 12th century building is in the south direction, but since it is collapsed, the church is entered through a tunnel opened from the north. It is known as the Elmalı Church (Apple Church) because of the globe, which is likened to an apple in the depiction of the Michael angel in the fresco on the dome in front of the main apse. It is definitely known that the angel is Michael, because according to Christianity, the greatest and most qualified angel is (Michael) Mikail (A.S).
In the church consisting of 9 domes and 4 columns; intense fresco work is mostly well preserved. The contours of the frescoes were painted with red ocher on the border and in their descriptions; Saint Jesus is sitting on his throne with his crown, he carries a book, Saint John (Yahya), other saints and Michael (A.S) are depicted. In addition to the scenes taken from the Bible and the Torah, ornaments with crosses and geometric motifs are also included.
St. Barbara’s Church
The church, which was built in the 11th century; It was built as a dedication to the martyrdom of Saint Barbara of Egypt, who adopted the Christian faith despite all the obstacles, by her father for the sake of her faith.
Located behind the Elmalı Church, the church consists of 3 apses and 2 columns. Geometric patterns and mythological animal figures ornaments are included in the motifs, with the application of red cross graft. Although the geometric patterns are kept simple, the grasshopper towards the holy cross attracts attention. You can see the depiction of St. Barbara on the western wall of the church.
Yılanlı Church (Serpentine Church)
The church takes its name from the depiction of the dragon that St. George and St. Theodore slew in battle; The green dragon figure in the depiction is resembled a snake. The church is rectangular in shape with a simple barrel vault carved into the rock and has 3 apses. The plan of the Serpentine church is irregular and its depictions are not continuous, but in the form of panels.
Its apse was carved long into the left wall, but it was not left unfinished, it is thought that its completion was considered unlucky during its construction, when its founder leader passed away. The entrance to the church is located on the north side, and the emperor. Constantine and his mother Helena are located on the cross on the left side of the entrance, and the saints’ killing of the dragon was staged in the east. On the right wall of the entrance, there is the depiction of the world-famous Saint Onuphrius as a man with female breasts (the legend of Onuphrius; while having a female body, Onuphrius, who devoted himself to religion, begs the god to protect him from men, and the god makes him ugly with a male beard and mustache).
Dark Church
Dark Church; dated to the 11th and 12th centuries. From the north side, a curved staircase leads to the rectangular, barrel-vaulted narthex of the church. The church is called the Dark Church, as it receives very little light from a small window in the narthex. For this reason, the colour of the frescoes has survived until today with very vivid and little damage. Church and Narthex are. adorned with richly colored ornaments containing depictions of Jesus. Simplicity, innocence and poverty are observed in the descriptions.
Carikli Church
Located on the same rock block as the Dark Church, Çarıklı Church is located at the highest point of the curved rock mass on which it is located. Due to its high position, the entrance to the Çarıklı Church is reached by a metal staircase. The Çarıklı Church got its name from the shoe-like footprint found under the fresco depicting the ascension of the saint Jesus into the sky. The church, which is dated to the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century, is a structure with 3 apses consisting of 2 columns and 4 domes.
In his depictions the table scene showing Abraham’s hospitality is from the Bible the scenes about the life of Saint Jesus and the appear well-preserved from the Torah. Another distinguishing feature of the figures is that they have details because they are long and large.
Tokalı (Buckled) Church
The Tokalı Church, which has the title of the oldest known rock church in the region, consists of 2 parts (Old and New Church) and 4 venues. These 4 venues are; The Old Church is the church in the underground part of the Old Church, the New Church is the Side Chapel located to the north of the New Church. The church, which has many sections and a rather large complex structure, was dated to the 10th and 11th centuries.
Old Church; It was built as a single-nave and barrel-vaulted dome at the beginning of the 10th century. Its apses were destroyed during the addition of the New Church to the east. Quotations from the Bible are depicted in red and green on the vault surface and on the top of the walls from right to left.
New Buckle; At the end of the 10th century and the beginning of the 11th century, it had a rectangular shape and a simple barrel vaulted structure. The wall section on the east side has four columns connected to each other by arches, and there is a corridor on the elevated level behind the columns, and three apses after the corridor. The depictions of Jesus are mostly rendered in intense frescoes in red and indigo colors. Depictions of Saints the miracles of Jesus were staged.
It is the most qualified church of the region in terms of chronological order of the scenes, expression skills and painting technique.
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