Binbirkilise (literally: Thousand and One Churches) is a district in modern

Karaman Province Karaman Province () is a province of south-central Turkey. Its area is 8,678 km2, and its population is 260,838 (2022). According to the 2000 census, the population was 243,210. The population density is 30 people/km. The traffic code is 7 ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, in what was the medieval region of

Lycaonia Lycaonia (; , ''Lykaonia''; ) was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west by Phrygia and Pisidia, while to ...

known for its around fifty

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

church ruins. The district is located on the northern slopes of the volcano Karadağ, around north of the provincial capital city of

Karaman Karaman is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the seat of Karaman Province and Karaman District.Madenşehri Madenşehri (literally “city of mines”) is a village in the Karaman District of Karaman Province, Turkey. Its population is 289 (2022). It is situated on the northern slopes of Karadağ, Karaman, Karadağ, an extinct volcano, and is north of t ...

, Üçkuyu and Değle.

Buildings

The region was a cultural centre for the

Byzantine Christians Byzantine Church or Byzantine church may refer to: * Historically, the State church of the Roman Empire ** particularly, Eastern Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire * Any church that uses the Byzantine Rite a.k.a. Greek Rite ** the Eastern O ...

in the era between the 3rd and 8th centuries. There are remains of churches,

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

s and dwellings that are integrated in the villages. The stone materials were reused in today's buildings and this has caused a continuous reduction of the historical inventory. From the architecture historical viewpoint, the several domed basilicas of

Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...

type are interesting. The walls were built of large cut stone blocks. Due to lack of wood in the region, the buildings were topped with stone domed roofs instead of flat wooden roofs. Over the

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s, matronea were constructed behind the upper column row. In the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

s, there were double

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

windows. The

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

es have mostly double arcades and are supported by a single column in the centre. In some churches, primarily in Madenşehri, remains of

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s can be seen. Also rare

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s from the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

are found in the surroundings.

History of research work

In 1904, Carl Holzmann (1849–1914) published his ''Archäologische Skizzen'' () about Binbirkilise. Shortly after, the region was described by British traveller and archaeologist

Gertrude Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highly inf ...

(1868–1926), who explored the region in 1905 during her trip through

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. She published her observations in a series of articles in the ''Revue Archéologique''. During this trip, she met in

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

the archaeologist

William Mitchell Ramsay Sir William Mitchell Ramsay (15 March 185120 April 1939) was a British archaeologist and New Testament scholar. He was the foremost authority of his day on the history of Asia Minor, and a leading scholar in the study of the New Testament. R ...

(1851–1939). The two decided to conduct excavations in Binbirkilise that took place in 1907. The results were published along with many photos in their book ''The Thousand and One Churches''. When Bell returned to the site two years later, she found that a large part of the documented buildings had disappeared as a result of robbery for cut stone. Today, the state of destruction is much advanced as can be seen in comparison with Bell's photos. Turkish art historian

Semavi Eyice Mustafa Semavi Eyice (9 December 1922 in Istanbul, Turkey – 28 May 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey) was a Turkish art historian and archaeologist, who specialised in the study of Byzantine and Ottoman art in Istanbul. Professor Eyice is widely rega ...

examined the region and published the results of his research in 1971.

Gallery

Binbirkilise2.jpg Binbirkilise3.jpg Binbirkilise4.jpg Binbirkilise5.JPG

Bibliography

* Carl Holzmann (1904). ''Binbirkilise: Archäologische Skizzen aus Anatolien: ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte des christlichen Kirchenbaues'', Verlag Von Boysen & Maasch *

(2008).

Gertrude Lowthian Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highly inf ...

, Robert G. Ousterhout: ''The Thousand and One Churches'', University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, *

(1971). ''Recherches archéologiques à Karadağ (Binbirkilise) et dans la région de Karaman.'' Doğan Kardeş

References

{{Authority control Byzantine church buildings in Turkey Ruined churches in Turkey Byzantine sites in Anatolia Karaman District Former populated places in Turkey Lycaonia Archaeological sites in Central Anatolia