Around 2,500 Orthodox Christians held the first Mass in 88 years at the ancient Sümela Monastery in Turkey’s north-eastern province of Trabzon on Sunday, August 15.
Trabzon Governor Kizilcik said that the service, which was held first time after 88 years, was attended by Orthodox Christians from Greece, Russia, Georgia, USA, Turkey and led by Patriarch Bartholomew I; the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians.
“We are most thankful as this day is sacred for not only believers in the Black Sea but for all Orthodox and the Christian world as it is the Assumption Day of Mother Mary. We are blessed to celebrate this day here in Sümela. First it is grace from God and then it is grace from the government,” said Patriarch Bartholomew I.
Standing at the foot of a steep cliff facing the Altindere valley in Trabzon’s Macka town, Sumela Monastery lies at an altitude of approximately 1,200 meters. Founded in the year 386 AD during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I (375-395), legend has it that two priests undertook the founding of the monastery on the site after having discovered a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave on the mountain.
The principal elements of the Monastery complex are the Rock Church, several chapels, kitchens, student rooms, a guesthouse, a library, and a sacred spring revered by Orthodox Greeks. The entrance to the Monastery leads up a long and narrow stairway.
The inner and outer walls of the Rock Church and the walls of the adjacent chapel are decorated with frescoes. The main subject of the frescoes is biblical scenes telling the story of Christ and the Virgin Mary.
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