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Kaymaklı Monastery (Template:Lang-hy; Monastery of the All-Saviour, Template:Lang-tr) 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 on a steep slope on a farm near Kaymaklı 3 kilometers southeast of Trabzon. The site overlooks the Değirmendere Valley from Boztepe neighbourhood. The exact dates of the monastery's foundation and origin remain unclear. A religious community was present at the site from at least the fifteenth century, and possibly as early as the eleventh. The oldest dated structure, a chapel, was completed in 1424. It was named Ամենափրկիչ Վանք (Amenaprkich Vank) in Armenian, which is translated to Monastery of the All-Saviour.

Murad III is said to have eaten at the monastery a meal consisting only of dairy products. He confirmed the monastery's possession of its lands, and the place came to be called in Turkish kaymakli - 'clotted cream', in memory of the occasion. Previously it had been called 'Yesil Manastir' - "green monastery".

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 Hodja Stephanos Shemsedli. 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 a surviving parts of a 12-13th century Greek church on the site. The original roof of this structure was destroyed and at some point a replacement roof was installed, but it is unclear whether the church is currently sheltered. There was also a narthex or zhamatun at the western end of the church, but this is no longer intact.

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

The monastery operated until 1915, when the Christian population of Trabzon(Trebizond) was wiped out. Armenian churches and convents were pillaged, desecrated and destroyed. Other monasteries in the region similarly ceased operation, including Kuştul and Sümela. In 1915 the monastery was used for its final function - a transit camp for Armenians being deported to Syria during the Armenian Genocide.

A fire may have partially ruined the site at a later date. Today, a farm utilizes the remaining buildings of the Kaymaklı monastery.

References

• Sinclair, T.A. (1987-90). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey. Pindar Press
• Kévorkian,Raymond.(1992) Les Arméniens. p. 187, nos. 305-6. Paris
• Anthony Bryer and David Winfield, The Byzantine Monument and Topography of the Pontos, Washington, Dumbarton Oaks, 1985, 2 vols, pp. 208-211, figs. 45-6, plates 154-160

References

1. map of Trabzon
2. Kaymaklı Monastery info at www.trabzon.gov.tr
3. ^ Bryer, Anthony (1985-03). Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos (Dumbarton Oaks Studies,20) Two Volume Set. Dumbarton Oaks Pub Service. ISBN 088402122X. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) - pages 208-211
4. Pictures of Turkey by Dick Osseman
5. Pictures of Turkey by Dick Osseman
6. "800,000 Armenians Counted Destroyed". The New York Times. 1915-10-7. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |access= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - "Viscount Bryce Tells House of Lords That Is the Probable Number of Turks' Victims. 10,000 Drowned at Once; Peers Are Told How Entire Christian Population of Trebizond Was Wiped Out."
7. Pascal, Julia (2001-01-27). "A People Killed Twice". The Guardian (London). - "Death came in various ways. In Trebizond, local Armenians were pushed on to boats then thrown overboard. Others were hurled off the edge of a gorge. Before 1914, more than two million Armenians lived in Turkey. After the genocide, only 500,000 remained, destined to become refugees in what was to become known as the Armenian diaspora."
8. Photiades, Kostas (1987), The Annihilation of the Greeks in Pontos, University of Tübingen, Germany.
9. Bryce, V.(1916) The Treatement of Armenians on the Ottoman Empire. London: Couston & Sons Ltd.
10. Template:Polytonic, peristereota.com
11. Turkish Governments' website

See also

• Kuştul Monastery
• Hagia Sophia cathedral of Trabzon
• Sümela Monastery
• Armenian Genocide
• Pontic Greek Genocide

External links

• Kaymaklı Monastery at Virtual Ani.
• Kaymaklı Monastery at karalahana.com

Photos

Photos of Kaymaklı Monastery by Dick Osseman

40°59′42″N 39°44′34.08″E / 40.99500°N 39.7428000°E / 40.99500; 39.7428000

• Monasteries in Turkey
• History of Armenia
• Armenian Apostolic Churches