Sou Mela

Hello to all!






Yard

 Before writing about Pergamon and Ephesus, I had decided to write about my Trabzon trip. Due to reasons beyond my control, I visited only Sümela Monastery and Atatürk’s Villa. I was planning to go to Uzungöl Plateau and stay one night there but you know what they say “If You Want to Make God Laugh, Tell Him Your Plans.”

According an oft-told story among Black Sea Greeks, two monks from Greece had the same dream, in their dream they saw Saint Luke’s Panagia in Sümela, thereupon those two monks came to Trabzon by sea, totally unaware of each other’s existence.

They came upon each other and told about the dream. This is the brief story of how the Monastery was founded.



This holy place is located in Maçka (antique Matsuka city). Word of Sümela with the dots above the U letter can look strange but it is pronounced Sou Mela and mela means black in Greek. In accordance with sources which I read before the visit, name of the monastery can derive from the Black Mountains which the monastery stands

But according to other researches it could be associated with the black colour of the icon of Panagia Soumela.

In any case, I’m sure all those researches would agree that Sümela is an unusual and spectacular place

Stars of monastery



This amazingly well preserved place has Greek Orthodox frescos on the walls. The main subjects of the frescoes are biblical scenes.

Monastery was built against side of middle sized mountain. It is possible to reach there by car but you have walk and climb like 300 meters to reach Monastery.

Take your time while walking, enjoy the amazing view, take photos, take a deep breath and enjoy pine trees, fresh air.



Don't forget to wear something with hood. Even at the summer it is possible to be caught rain. Eat something before go to there, at Monastery there is small café, there is nothing to eat there. There is restaurant down the Monastery, It was looking like a nice restaurant but I haven’t tried it.








The Raising of Lazarus



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Mother Mary