The Sumela Monastery is a Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Panagia, meaning "All Holy" in Greek) at Melá Mountain ( Greek name Ouros Melá, meaning Black Mountain) within the Pontic Mountains range, in the Maçka district of Trabzon Province in modern Turkey.
The monastery was founded in 386 AD during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I (375 - 395). Legend has it that two priests undertook its creation after discovering a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave on the mountain.
The monastery was seized by the Russian Empire during the 1916-18 occupation of Trabzon.The monastery was founded in 386 AD during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I (375 - 395). Legend has it that two priests undertook its creation after discovering a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave on the mountain.
The site was abandoned in 1923, following forced population exchanges between Greece and Turkey. The departing monks were not allowed to take any property with them, so they buried Sumela's famous icon under the floor of the monastery's St. Barbara chapel. In 1930, a monk secretly returned to Sumela and retrieved the icon, transferring it to the new Panagia Soumela Monastery, on the slopes of Mount Vermion, near the town of Naousa, in Macedonia, Greece.
Today the monastery's primary function is as a tourist attraction. It overlooks forests and streams, making it extremely popular for its aesthetic attraction as well as for its cultural and religious significance.
As of 2012, the Turkish government is funding restoration work, and the monastery is enjoying a revival in pilgrimage from Greece and Russia.
Monasteries always have an other wordly appeal to me, mostly I wonder at the
the serenity of life the monks and nuns have in a monastery, far from the daily concerns
of our capitalistic world. Thank you Furkan for this great card! I enjoy it very much
Received: 21 December 2012
