Sümela Monastery

Sümela Monastery clings to a sheer cliff face at roughly 1,200 metres in the Pontic Mountains near Maçka in northeastern Turkey, making it one of the most striking examples of Byzantine cliff architecture anywhere in the world. According to tradition, the monastery was founded in 386 AD by two Athenian monks following a vision of the Virgin Mary, and it functioned as a Greek Orthodox monastic centre for over a millennium — its name derives from 'Melas', the ancient Greek name for the dark forested mountain above it. The rock-cut chapel interior is covered in layers of frescoes depicting New Testament scenes and Byzantine saints, some dating to the 14th century, vivid despite centuries of exposure. A forested trail of around 45 minutes leads up to the complex; mist drifting through the valley below and the sheer verticality of the setting give the site an atmosphere that few religious monuments in the region can match.