Sumela Monastery: the refuge of the last Turkish Greeks. Another powerpoint on the Sahara-Himalaya overland trail. Greek (orthodox) monks have been seeking union with God here for over a thousand years. The place is 1200 meters above the sea level where according to legend, an icon of the virgin had come to Athens but one day a holy image,transported by angels, crossed the ocean and landed in to grotto at the top of the Zigana mountain. Two Greek monks Barnaba and Sophronios, who had come here to live in prayer, saw the icon and decide to dedicate a monastery to it. Probably the name 'Sumela' derives from the Greek 'Melas' which means black and which referred not to the mountain but to the color the ancient image had undoubtedly acquired. Apparently the icon had been painted by an anonymous artist active in Trabzon in the course of the 7th (10th) century. As pilgrimages increased Sumela become one of the most important sites for meditation. During the Greco-Turkish war however the buildings were gradually abandoned. The site of the monastery, with the buildings which seems to cling to the cliff that overlooks the green valley below, recalls Mounth Athos and Meteors, both in Greece.
Partially hewn out of the rock, the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin was once full of frescoes, one of which commemorated the coronation of Alexis II, which took place in 1340. In the 14th century the large monastery was built against the rock wall. The first four of its five floors had 72 cells and the top floor was a gallery which also had a look out post.
