Kaymaklı Monastery

Kaymaklı Monastery ( hye: Ամենափրկիչ Վանք ''Amenaprgič Vank'', meaning Monastery of the All-Saviour; ) is a ruined Armenian Apostolic monastery near Trabzon, Turkey.

The monastery originally included a church, a bell tower at the northwest corner, and a small chapel near the southeast corner.

Location, founding and name

The monastery is located on top of Boztepe hill, three kilometres southeast of Trabzon (). The site overlooks the Değirmendere Valley, the ancient river Pyxites, along which runs the main trade route into eastern Anatolia and beyond.

An Armenian community existed in Trabzon as early as the 7th century.Ambart︠s︡umi︠a︡n, ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran'', ''Trapizon'', p. 87 During the Mongol invasions of the 13th and 14th centuries, numerous Armenian families fled here from Ani. However, exact date of the monastery's foundation and origin remains unclear. A religious community was present at the site from at least the fifteenth century, and possibly as early as the eleventh. The oldest structure in the compound is dated to 1424. In 1461 it was pillaged and destroyed by Turks. In the 16th century, the rebuilt monastery became a center of Armenian manuscript production.

It was named Ամենափրկիչ Վանք (Amenaprgič Vank) in Armenian, which translates as "Monastery of the All-Saviour". The Ottoman Sultan Murad III is said to have eaten a meal at the monastery consisting only of dairy products. He confirmed the monastery's possession of its lands, and the place came to be called in Turkish ''Kaymaklı'', meaning "with/of kaymak", in memory of the occasion. Previously it had been called ''Yesil Manastir'' - the ''Green Monastery''.Bryer, ''Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos'', pp. 208-211

Buildings

The site was a terrace enclosed by a wall 30 x 40m. The wall is now almost completely destroyed. The oldest surviving structure is a small chapel located at the eastern end of the compound. According to an inscription above the door, it was built in 1424 by prince Hodja Stephanos Shemsedli (Khoja Stepanos Shemsedin). The chapel has reused khachkars in its walls. The original complex included a zhamatun, fountain known as the milk fountain, a tower, the mentioned chapel, and an arcaded monastic building.

Main church

The main church is rectangular in form, with three naves and three apses. The main apse is pentagonal. The founding date for the church is not clear but is believed to have been built on surviving parts of a 12-13th century Greek church on the site. The original roof of the main church was made of timber and had fallen-in by 1929. In 1961 a replacement roof, also made of timber, was installed when the church began to be used as a barn. The roof had fallen once again as the weather took its toll in the late 2000s. Currently, the church has a metal roof to protect the interior of the church from the elements. There was a narthex or zhamatun at the western end of the church, but it has entirely disappeared.

The inside of the church is decorated with elaborate frescoes showing various biblical scenes. They are believed to have been painted in the 17-18th centuries. On the west wall is a large fresco on three sections depicting the Last Judgment. North-west of the church are the remains of a bell tower, once an extremely tall structure. South of the church are the remains of a 2-story monastic building that had a portico with stone columns on the lower floor.

Modern times

Until 1915 it served as the seat of the Trebizond diocese tied to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople.Köker, ''Armenians in Turkey 100 Years Ago'', p. 180 At this time, the vibrant Armenian community of the city numbered 30,000. In 1915, the normal functions of the monastery were interrupted when it was used as a transit camp for Armenians being deported to Syria during the Armenian genocide. After the Russian capture of Trebizond, Armenian monks returned to the monastery, and monks were there until sometime after World War I, supposedly 1923.Darke, ''Guide to Eastern Turkey and the Black Sea Coast'', p. 327

A fire may have partially ruined the site at a later date. By the 1950s, the main church was roofless and most of the bell-tower had been destroyed. In the current day, the Kaymaklı Monastery is a protected building in Trabzon. There have been slight modifications to the building in terms of restorations, like a modern roof made of metal. The monastery is currently not in use but can be visited by anyone who opts to do so.

See also

* Hagia Sophia cathedral of Trabzon
* Kuştul Monastery
* Sümela Monastery

Notes

References

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Further reading

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Gallery

File:Kaymakli monastery front.JPG, Kaymaklı Monastery front view
File:Kaymakli-chapel.jpg, Kaymaklı Monastery Chapel
File:Trabzon Kaymakli manastiri 93 124.jpg, Kaymaklı Manastırı Apse
File:Trabzon Kaymakli manastiri 93 118.jpg, Kaymaklı Manastırı Roofless chapel
File:Trabzon Kaymakli manastiri 93 112.jpg, Kaymaklı Manastırı
File:Trabzon Kaymakli manastiri 93 111.jpg, Kaymaklı Manastırı
File:Trabzon Kaymakli manastiri 93 106.jpg, Kaymaklı Manastırı
File:Trabzon Kaymakli manastiri 93 109.jpg, Kaymaklı Manastırı
File:Trabzon Kaymakli manastiri 93 110.jpg, Kaymaklı Manastırı
File:Trabzon Kaymakli manastiri 93 120.jpg, Kaymaklı Manastırı

External links

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Photos of Kaymaklı Monastery by Dick Osseman

Carefully documented photographic survey of Kaymaklı Monastery


Monastery Products from Mount Athos

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaymakli Monastery

Destroyed Armenian monasteries in Turkey
Buildings and structures completed in 1424
15th century in Armenia
Christian monasteries established in the 1420s
Christian monasteries in Turkey