Monastery Valley

The Güzelyurt Monastery (Manastır Vadisi) is located about two kilometers from the center of the town of Güzelyurt in western Cappadocia in the Turkish province of Aksaray.

The history

The first monastic communities settled here in the 3rd century, in the 4th century the Cappadocian Father Gregory of Nazianzus grew up here, who was born in nearby Arianzos. The place was then called Karballa and was inhabited by Greeks until the beginning of the 20th century. Until their settlement, it was called Gelveri. Over time, over a hundred churches were created here.

Construction

The church was expanded and remodeled several times from the end of the 4th century, including in 1896 as Hagios Gregorios to become the main church of the monastery center. It is now a mosque and bears the name Büyük Kilise Camii (large church), the frescoes formerly present are white-painted.

Nearby are the Seviçli churches, a partly carved, partly stone-cut, cruciform church of 1887, in whose apse is a representation of the Trinity and in the dome a pantocrator, a representation of Christ as world ruler, as well as the Cafarlar churches of the 9th century.

In the area of the actual monastery, which consists only of rock churches and cave buildings, there are among others the Fırıntaş kilises with a facade of blendish and the similarly shaped Kalburlu kilises. Both are without paintings but equipped with reliefs.