Sinop travel
situated on a narrow peninsula at Turkey’s
northernmost point, Sinop is like a Black Sea
island with its good-natured people and streets
where time passes slowly.
Development of the Pontic Greek Dialect
Will Pontic Greek continue to be spoken? Bortone
(2009) believes Pontic Greek spoken in the
Pontos in Asia Minor today will probably
disappear. The challenge is to keep the Pontic
Greek dialect alive. The more recent work of
researchers like Emeritus Professor Peter
Mackridge, Assistant Professor Pietro Bortone,
Dr Theofanis Malkidis, Ömer Asan, Dr Anthi
Revithiadou and Dr Vassilios Spyropoulos have
increased our knowledge of the dialect.
Time For to Discover the Black Sea Highlands
Discover the Black Sea
highlands in September when time is suddenly
rent by a blanket of fog or the cry of a
vulture, and make the acquaintance of nature in
its most beautiful aspect.
Formation of the First Greek Settlements in the
Pontos
According to Liddell and Scott’s An Intermediate
Greek-English Lexicon, the word Pontos stands
for the sea, especially the open sea. In time,
the word Pontos became associated with the
north-eastern portion of Asia Minor that borders
the Black Sea (see Map 1).1 The Greeks first
called the Black Sea, Aξεινος πóντος
(inhospitable, unfriendly pontos), but later it
was called Εϋξεινος πóντος (hospitable pontos)
when they became aware of its wealth in the
lands around it ...
Crypto-Christians of the Trabzon Region
of Pontos
The crypto-Christians (also called cryphi,
klosti, Stavriotes, Kromledes) were Christian
Greeks who due to the Muslim persecution against
Christians publicly declared themselves Muslims.
However, in secret, they upheld their Greek
language, customs and Christian religious
practices...
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Sumela Monastery
The Sumela Monastery, which is one of the
most important monuments of tourist attractions,
is 30 kins, to Trabzon, 15 kms. to Maçka and it is
nearly 1200 meters high. It is also possible to go
there by car on the valley split through the
winding footpath which is usually taken on foot.
The monastery wasfounded around a cave just on the
foot of a steep hill facing the Altindere valley
in the region of Karadağ. Despite the rumors that
it was founded in the fourth century, the remnants
which still stand today date back to Alexios III,
the king of Komnenos. It is known that Alexios III
whose two sisters and four daughters were married
to Turkish governors grew a special interest in
the monastery.
As in all other places of
Ottoman State, the rights of the Sumela Monastery
were preserved and some privileges as well as
presents were given. For example, it is known that
the two candlesticks in the monastery were given
as presents by Yavuz Sultan Selim. What is more is
that most of the sultans paid special attention to
the preservation and the maintenance of the
monastery.
Thanks to the donations in the 18th
centuiy, all the walls in the monasteiy, which was
restored in 1749, were decorated with frescoes.
When the restoration of “barracks-like” building
was completed in 1860s, the building
had seven
floors with the arches in the hills, four rows of
windows, eight rooms in each floor and even a
gallery upstairs.
Traces of Turkish
architecture especially in the exterior spaces,
particularly of the 19,h century, are still
visible. The monastery consists of the cave, two
chapels, sacred spring, services, monk cells,
student rooms and guest rooms. The Rock church and
the interior and the exterior of the adjacent
chapels are veneered with the frescoes taken from
biblical scenes. The monastery, having a
world-wide reputation for its natural beauty and
historical richness was emptied in 1923. Its
wooden parts were burnt to ashes in the fire in
1930 and were destroyed due to the natural
conditions and various plunders.
In 1972, the
monasteiy ivhich was in ruins and open to visitors
went back to the maiden days thanks to the
Ministry of Culture.
The monasteiy consists of
two sections. The first section seems to have been
marked by the frescoes hanged to the ceiling of
the temple. The interior and the exterior walls
are decorated with the frescoes taken from
subjects of biblical scenes. Just at the point
where the waterfalls from the rock adjacent to the
temple is a sacred spring. There are 3-4 chapels
in the north of the temple and today one of them
is still in good condition. The second section
consists of four floors including bedrooms to the
right, bookshelves, store- cupboard and kitchens.
There are fireplaces, cupboards and bookshelves in
all rooms; moreover, there is a vaulted kitchen, a
cellar and oil stores downstairs.
From the
remnants, all the walls are understood to have
been veneered with ivoods of elm and oak trees.
This part of the monasteiy is built upon four
vaults which have an open-door-like space from the
bottom. The foundations of the walls were laid in
order to con tinue the narrow part comingfrom the
rock in a triangular shape. This part having the
characteristic of the Middle Age is said to have
been built by Alexis III.
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