Sumela Monastery in Macka is among most interesting historical attractions of Turkey

Sumela Monastery also known as “Virgin Mary” among locals is located at the foot of Karadag in Maçka (Trabzon), overlooking the Altındere Valley. It was built by carving rocks in a 300 m high forest area.

The history of the monastery is said to date back to 13^th century. The complex has 72 rooms, apart from the service units, the guesthouse, the kitchen and the holy garden.

In 2010, a ceremony was held and conducted by the Fener Greek Patriarch, Dmitry Bartholomew in the monastery for the first time after 88 years. The event was attended by thousands of people.

For the last 4 years the monastery has been undergoing a restoration work which is expected to come to an end by 18 May 2019 after which the place will start accepting visitors again.

During this work carried out in 3 stages teams accomplished rock cleaning in an area of 79 thousand square meters. During the restoration work a new spot reached by a secret passage was detected on the upper right slope of the northern roof.

In this special area where chapels and ordeal chambers were located teams also found frescoes with the depiction of, heaven and hell, death and life, of a kind never seen before. It is reported that this section will be also opened to visitors for the first time after the restoration.

The landscaping and restoration work planned as the 1st stage in the monastery was completed. In this part, 4 thousand tons of rocks were cleaned in order to ensure the safety of visitors. In the area where the 300 meter hiking path leading to the monastery was reorganized, the historical water arches, the toll building and the stairs leading to the monastery were restored as well.

Following the completion of the works, the monastery will be opened during the Museum Week on May 18.