Kaymaklı Monastery

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Monastery church from the southwest, on the left under the modern building the remainder of the bell tower

Kaymaklı Monastery ( Armenian Ամենափրկիչ Վանք Amenaprgič Vank , Turkish Kaymaklı Manastır , Amenapırgiç Manastırı ) is a ruined Armenian monastery in the Turkish port city of Trabzon (formerly Trapezunt) on the Black Sea . Founded in the early 15th century, the monastery was the religious center of the city's Armenian community during the Ottoman Empire until its closure in 1915 .

location

Kaymaklı Monastery is located in the Çukurayır district on the edge of an extensive new building district with high apartment blocks in the hills above the coastal motorway ( E 70 ), three kilometers southeast of the city center. From the central Ataturk Alanı square, the arterial road ( Taksim Caddesi ) in the direction of Erzurum winds in serpentines south to the local mountain Boztepe and later east to Çukurayır, a shorter connection runs past the viewpoint and park of Boztepe. From the business center in Çukurayır, the road leads another kilometer eastwards to an area with farmhouses between hazelnut trees . 100 meters after the Mısırılı Cami (new mosque, shell construction completed at the end of 2012), a small asphalt road branches off steeply to the north to the coast and after a good half a kilometer reaches the place on the steep slope above a valley cut.

At 243 meters, the highest point in the city is simply called Boztepe ("gray hill") in Turkish . Its older name, Minthrion Mountain, refers to the Mithras cult , which was worshiped here in a temple in Roman times. In the 3rd century, the Christian martyr Saint Eugenios is said to have overturned the statue of the god Mithras , which, according to tradition, was erected on the site of the later Greek monastery Panaghia Theoskepastos, which existed until the beginning of the 20th century . Between the town center and Kaymaklı were the Byzantine Sabas cave churches, of which remains from the 13th century and later have been preserved, but are inaccessible.

The religious places of worship on Minthrion Mountain were isolated and far outside the walled residential town, which was restricted to a relatively small area in the west from ancient times to the Middle Byzantine period. Another Armenian church stood in the coastal plain, probably in the eastern part of the city. It was consecrated to Our Lady (Armenian Astvatsatsin ) and, according to the older of the two known inscriptions, dates to the year 1414. The church, which was preserved until 1915, has now disappeared without a trace. Two kilometers north of Kaymaklı on the coast was the settlement of Daphnous, founded by Genoese traders in the early 13th century . This was also another name of the ancient river Pyxites, the course of which was followed by a trade route south across the Pontic Mountains . The river, which is called Değirmendere in Turkish and is water-rich in spring, carries sediments ( alluvium ) with it, which are washed up to the port entrance.

history

View from the north. Historic postcard, before 1913

There is the story of a meeting between the Armenian Catholicos Peter I Guetadarts (1019-1058) and the Byzantine Emperor Basil II (r. 976-1025), who had moved into winter quarters in Trebizond in 1022/23. The earliest source for this is the Armenian historian Aristakes Lastivert († 1071). He describes how the emperor invited the Catholicos to an epiphany , at which the Armenian clergyman surprised those present when he poured sacred oil on a surface of water, causing a great fire. In a later version the scene is moved from the south of the Chaldia region to Trebizond, where Peter is said to have miraculously stopped the water of a river with a holy cross . In the original version there is no mention of a monastery or a gift from Basil to Peter, according to a later decoration the two men met in the monastery Kaymaklı and the emperor gave the monastery land in the area as far as Daphnous.

At the site of Kaymaklı there was previously a Greek monastery, the remains of which were partly taken over by the Armenians in their re-establishment. It is possible that the Trapezuntian emperor Alexios IV (r. 1417–1429) left the former monastery to them, as his name is mentioned in two Armenian inscriptions from the city. When the Mongols invaded Asia Minor in the middle of the 13th century, many Armenians fled the former Armenian capital Ani to the Trapezunt Empire . From the 14th century, Trebizond was a seat of Armenian Apostolic Bishops. A monastery in the 11th century, as suggested in the above-mentioned tradition, cannot be proven. The Armenian traveler Minas Bzhshkean accepted Hodja Stepanos Shemsedli (Khoja Stepanos Shemsedin), an important local patron saint, as the founder of the monastery. By this time Ani was already completely deserted, presumably numerous Armenian refugees were staying in Trebizond. In 1400 the Ottomans had lost the city of Sebasteia ( Sivas ) with a high Armenian population to Timur . The Armenians got stuck from Sebasteia on their way to Aminsos ( Samsun ) in Trebizond. According to the travel report of the Spanish diplomat Clavijo from 1404, they were not particularly welcome there. Some Armenians traveled on to the Crimean peninsula , in 1414 80 families from Sebasteia in Trebizond pushed for their departure and onward journey to Crete . In 1429 and 1431 more Armenians came to the city. These circumstances seem to have caused the expansion of the Armenian churches in the city and the establishment of Kaymaklı in 1421.

The Armenian name Amenaprgič Vank means "Monastery of All Saints". Chrysanthos Philippides, Greek Metropolitan in Trebizond from 1913 to 1923 , does not mention the monastery, the Armenian name of which is also unknown to most of the later scholars. The history of the monastery is largely based on the inscriptions published by Bzhshkean in 1819. Accordingly, there are two essential inscriptions, the first of which from the church building with the date 1423/24 mentions a Hodja Stepanos Shemsedli who built the church for his descendants and his wife Melik Hatun. The second inscription with the first deciphered Armenian year 1071 (corresponds to 1622 AD) was found above the lintel of the small chapel in the south-east; it was first published by the British art historian Talbot Rice in 1929. Rice put the date 1622 for the chapel, but according to the more recent reading the inscription contains the Armenian year 871, i.e. 1421 AD. The chapel was built at the same time as the main church.

Ruins of the monastery building from the 19th century from the southwest. In the background on the left the main church

Another inscription refers to a large monastery building in the south. Together with the year 1138 (corresponds to 1688 AD), it lists the founders Surat Hatun, Hodjikin and Masya Hatun.

In the 16th century, the monastery was restored after previous destruction and developed into a production center for Armenian manuscripts. An undated inscription on a fountain in front of the church that has now disappeared stated that the builder was a certain Voskeuch Garabed. The fountain seems to have been a place of pilgrimage, its name "milk fountain" reminded of the visit of the Ottoman Sultan Murad III. (r. 1574–1594) in the monastery. He is said to have received a meal that consisted only of dairy products and provided a legal guarantee of existence for the monastery and its lands. The previous name Yeşil Manastır (“green monastery”) became Kaymaklı Manastır (“cream monastery”).

The remains of the large monastery building in the south date from the 19th century. In October 1895, as in some other cities in eastern Turkey, attacks by the Ottoman military and the Muslim population against Armenians took place, in which around 1100 Armenians were killed in the Trabzon area. Until 1915, the monastery served as the seat of the diocese of Trebizond of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople . At that time, the Armenian community in the urban district consisted of about 30,000 members. The attacks and massacres of the Armenian population began in mid-1915, and leading members of the Trabzon city administration were also involved in the organization. Kaymaklı Monastery was closed. His last function was that of a transit camp for Armenians who were deported to Syria.

When Talbot Rice visited Kaymaklı in 1929, he found the wooden structure of the church roof collapsed and the wall paintings exposed to the rain. In order to be usable as a haystack for the agricultural homestead, which has been set up on the former monastery grounds to this day, the roof beams were renewed in 1961. Today the church roof is provisionally covered with corrugated iron. The bell tower disappeared in the middle of the 20th century.

architecture

Nave with the apse of the previous Greek building from the southeast

The former monastery grounds consist of a terrace secured by an external wall up to four meters high and measuring around 30 × 45 meters. On the northern long side and on the east side, the terrain breaks off steeply. The central main church is joined by a small chapel in the south-east corner, which today stands close to a modern residential building. This is attached to the ruins of an elongated two-storey monastery annex building from the 19th century, which in its part that is still usable serves as a storage room for the farming family living on the site.

The lower part of the former bell tower northwest of the church was probably built over by a residential building in the 1990s, which is already in the state of decay. Some windows of the church and the side entrances on the west wall are closed with stone layers, the two main entrances are barricaded with board doors. The inside of the church is largely empty. There are no additional measures to maintain the substance or to present the system to visitors.

Main church

The church consists of a simple rectangle, from the east wall of which a pentagonal apse protrudes on the outside and semicircular on the inside . A shamatun , which is missing today, was originally built in front of the west wall (vestibule in Armenian churches, corresponds to a narthex ), in front of which there was probably the “milk fountain”. The Shamatun was a later addition from the 15th or 17th century. Its wall connection to the main building can be seen, in 1958 remains of the foundation were still present. The single nave church interior was covered by a barrel vault. A rectangular door in the middle of the west wall is flanked by two smaller entrances with round arches, another entrance is in the south wall.

Khachkar stones in the south wall of the church

The oldest part, most likely from the previous Greek building (from the 13th or 14th century), is the apse. Its carefully smoothed stone blocks are layered in alternating narrow and wide layers. The apse corresponds stylistically to the other well-known Greek churches in the city, but differs from the Armenian design forms. Two yellowish, narrow stone bands, which stand out from the medium-gray masonry, ensure a horizontal structure. Each of the five wall surfaces is decorated in the upper area by a cuboid of the same light color. The quality of the craftsmanship of the apse by far exceeds all other building walls of the monastery. It is comparable to the pentagonal main apse of Hagia Sophia in Trebizond, both are about 6.8 meters wide on the outside. Some chatschkars are built into the south wall. Such relief stones, whose ornamentation according to Armenian tradition includes a central cross, can usually be found on all Armenian monastery buildings. They are difficult to date and could be older than the church walls.

Outbuildings

Chapel from the west

The one-room chapel with a gable roof has a semicircular apse, a small window above the west entrance and a semicircular opening in the apse. The internal dimensions are 2.0 × 1.7 meters. The walls consist of roughly joined stone blocks, which are bricked up in only approximately horizontal joints. The lintel bears a long inscription. The roof tiles have disappeared, the mortar layer of the roof has been preserved, as well as some protruding eaves stones. Outside, the walls are unadorned except for a second-used Khachkar stone. An Armenian inscription above the door indicates the year 1622.

Like the chapel (1421) and the main church (1424), the bell tower is dated to the 1420s. Half of it was removed in 1893, today only part of its substructure is preserved. There was a chapel on the first floor and above it was a room with a large window. Its construction plan is said to have corresponded to the bell tower of Hagia Sophia in Trebizond, dated 1427.

The large monk's building on the south side, of which the south wall from the 19th century is preserved up to two-storey height, had a portico with wide arches on the courtyard side and a portico on the upper floor until 1960 . On the outside, it formed part of the surrounding wall.

painting

Painting remains in the apse

Parts of the painting that once covered all the walls of the main church have been preserved on the west wall, the adjacent north wall up to the first pilaster and in the apse. They survived temporary weather conditions and the storage of hay relatively well up to the turn of the millennium. The apse walls are covered with two, possibly three layers of painted plaster, the nave had two, otherwise one layer of plaster on the south side. Regarding the chronology of the painting, it is stated that the Armenians under Ottoman rule were not able to restore their church buildings and that there are no datable Armenian church paintings from the 16th or 17th centuries in Pontos. According to this assumption, the paintings that existed at the beginning of the 20th century must have come from the 15th century. In the 20th century, remains of painting were still visible on the outside of the west wall up to the level of the lost Shamatun. Bryer and Winfried date the subsequently added Shamatun early to the time between 1424 (inauguration of the nave) and 1461, the entire painting consequently shortly after its completion. In 1424 the paintings were not yet available because Talbot Rice recognized an inscription on the south wall with an illegible date, which attributed the paintings not to the founder Hodja Stepanos Shemsedli, but to a certain Jacob, of whom, however, no life dates are known. According to stylistic studies, the paintings are likely to be younger.

On the inside on the west side, the Last Judgment is depicted in three superimposed fields: in the upper field, on both sides of the window, the Twelve Apostles , who have sat in two rows on wooden chairs with high backs. Apparently there was originally a figure of Christ in the middle, which was lost when the window was enlarged, so that only the two archangels on the side remain. In 1979 four of the apostles were partially preserved on the right (north) side of the window. The first of this group was identified as Paul and his counterpart to the left of the window was identified as Peter .

Upper left part of the west wall. Choir of the elect in five clouds, next to it the throne of Christ

In the middle field of the west wall, in the scene called Hetoimasia , the throne of Christ in heaven is being prepared. You can see an empty chair, obviously covered with an originally black, now bleached cloth, behind which you can see a standing cross and an umbrella. There is a gospel book on the throne . According to Dan 7.10  EU, a red stream of fire flows from another book under the throne to the bottom right to just below the arch of the northern side door. Adam and Eve stand depressed on either side of the throne . To Adam's left are two men dressed in tunics , to the right shows a figure with a nimbus , which could represent Christ, with the right arm pointing upwards in the direction of the two archangels. With his left hand he connects to a group of six figures. To the left (south) of the throne the choir of the chosen crowd gathers in five groups surrounded by clouds. Here prophets should once have been depicted in the middle and apostles, martyrs and saints on the outside. Just above the stream, near Eva's foot, you can see a black big cat and next to it another smaller animal.

The lower field structure the three entrances. To the left of the middle entrance, the chosen ones find their way to paradise, which is symbolized by densely growing trees. The entrance leads through a narrow, domed building with a high archway. To the right of this is the group of the elect. Dismas , who comes along with a loincloth and a wooden cross in hand, is the first to enter Paradise. To the right of the middle door, souls are weighed at the Last Judgment . Some angels stand on the left, one is holding a scale. Two others are handling spears, one of them can just be seen impaling a devil who has approached from below.

The frescoes on the north wall depict the stoning of the martyr Stephen with passionate energy over the entire western third . He kneels down on the right, his face turned up and his hands together in prayer. His stone-throwing accusers fill the middle of the picture and push threateningly to the right, one seems to be kicking the victim. The mountains in the background have the urge to the top left and thus reinforce the dynamics of the action. A slight Christ bends over the top right corner.

In the upper area of ​​the right part of the north wall the crucifixion could be seen, with Mary and a mourning congregation behind Christ. Mary Magdalene and a male figure stood further to the right . In the resurrection scene on the right, Christ stepped out of the grave. Among them was probably a figure of St. Gregory , who, according to tradition, brought Christianity to Armenia around 300 AD.

The paintings in the chapel, estimated to be somewhat older than in the main church, were still partially preserved in 1929, today they have disappeared apart from a tiny remnant.

literature

  • Anthony Bryer, David Winfield: The Byzantine monuments and topography of the Pontos. Volume 1, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC 1985, ISBN 0-88402-122-X , pp. 208-211.
  • Diane Darke: Guide to Eastern Turkey and the Black Sea Coast . Michael Haag, London 1987, ISBN 0-902743-66-X .
  • Thomas Alexander Sinclair: Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey. Vol. II. The Pindar Press, London 1989, ISBN 0-907132-34-0 , pp. 60-63.

Web links

Commons : Kaymaklı Monastery  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A. Akar, G. Gokalp, HF Bayata, O. Akar: Determining the effects of Degimendere River on Trabzon Harbor after construction of Black Sea highway on Black Sea coast. (PDF; 974 kB) In: Scientific Research and Essay. 5 (19), October 5, 2010, pp. 2965-2974.
  2. ^ Bryer, Winfield: The Byzantine monuments. 1985, pp. 179, 207f.
  3. ↑ Minas Bzhshkean: Patmutʻiwn Pontosi or ē Seaw tsov. Venice 1819 (Armenian)
  4. ^ Bryer, Winfield: The Byzantine monuments. 1985, p. 210.
  5. ^ Bryer, Winfield: The Byzantine monuments. 1985, p. 211.
  6. ^ Sinclair: Eastern Turkey. 1989, p. 60.
  7. ^ David McDowall: A Modern History of the Kurds. IB Tauris, London 2003, ISBN 1-85043-416-6 , p. 61.
  8. ↑ Michael Richard Thomas Dumper, Bruce E. Stanley, Janet L. Abu-Lughod: Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara (Ca) 2006, pp. 364f.
  9. ^ Bryer, Winfield: The Byzantine monuments. 1985, p. 210: Schamatum between 1424 and 1461; Sinclair: Eastern Turkey. 1989, p. 63: possibly 17th century
  10. ^ Bryer, Winfield: The Byzantine monuments. 1985, p. 209.
  11. ↑ Selina Ballance: The Byzantine Churches of Trebizond. In: Anatolian Studies 10, 1960, pp. 141-175. here p. 169
  12. ^ Bryer, Winfield: The Byzantine monuments. 1985, p. 210; Sinclair does not date the paintings
  13. ^ Sinclair: Eastern Turkey. 1989, pp. 61-63; Sinclair saw the paintings in 1979 when the church was filled with hay to a certain height. Since then, a large part of the frescoes on the north wall has disappeared.

Coordinates: 40 ° 59 ′ 39.5 ″  N , 39 ° 44 ′ 39 ″  E