Çanlı Kilise and Rock-Cut Settlement

Çanlı Kilise (“the church with a bell”) lies about 15–17 km south-east of Aksaray, within the lands of Akhisar village, on a slope overlooking the plain. The name refers both to a large rock-cut settlement and to the masonry church at its heart.

One of the rare masonry churches of Cappadocia, it is considered one of the best examples of Byzantine stone architecture in central Anatolia and is frequently cited in textbooks on Byzantine architecture. The twin peaks of Mount Hasan rise opposite.

History

Its architecture and painting style date the settlement mainly to the 10th and 11th centuries, and the rock-cut houses remained in use until the 14th century. The many large “courtyard houses” show that this was a prosperous farming settlement of Cappadocia’s landed military aristocracy.

In Byzantine times it was close to Aksaray, then called Koloneia, and to the episcopal centre of Mokissos at the foot of Mount Hasan. The old fort above Akhisar is identified with Hisn Sinan, a strategic Byzantine stronghold named in Arabic sources that guarded the entrance to the Cappadocian highlands.

Where does the name come from?

Legend says a bell hung in the dome, which collapsed in the early 1950s. Yet Gertrude Bell’s photographs of 1907 show no bell; the name may instead come from the bell-like shape of the dome or from the two-storey narthex that resembles a bell tower.

What to see

Inside, the church was decorated with frescoes of Christ and the apostles. The settlement around it stretches for about a kilometre along the south slope of a hill locals call Manastırtepe (“monastery hill”).

• A cross-in-square domed masonry church with traces of frescoes
• Courtyard mansions whose porticoed façades have collapsed, revealing dovecotes
• Around 30 churches and chapels identified across the site
• Small refuges similar to Cappadocia’s underground cities
• An old Byzantine road cut into the bedrock with visible wheel ruts

Mummies and finds

Excavations inside and around the church yielded coins, lead ampullae, glass bracelets, earrings, rings, written documents and mummies. According to Kültür Portalı, the Çanlı Kilise mummies, generally dated to the 10th–13th centuries, are on display in Aksaray Museum and Niğde Museum.

Getting there from Neva Apart

Neva Apart is in Aksaray city centre, a few minutes’ walk from the Zinciriye Madrasa and the Grand Mosque; the distances below are measured from our aparthotel.

Drive on asphalt to Akhisar village; the church is about 4 km north-east of the village on the road to Çeltek. The total distance from Neva Apart is about 17 km — a 25-minute drive. You can take public transport to Akhisar and walk 4 km, but a car is far more practical.

Tips for your visit

Parts of the settlement have been affected by landslides and erosion; keep away from collapsed areas and unmarked refuge openings. Some rock-cut rooms are used by farmers as stables — please respect the property.

Combine Çanlı Kilise with Helvadere and Viranşehir for a half-day “Byzantium on the slopes of Mount Hasan” route.

Other places nearby

• Helvadere and the Slopes of Mount Hasan – A town at about 1,350 m on the western slope of Mount Hasan, with a forest park, apple and cherry orchards and Byzantine churches — a cool nature escape.
• Viranşehir (Mokissos / Nora) Ancient City – A Byzantine city at 1,500 m on the slopes of Mount Hasan, made capital of Cappadocia Tertia by Justinian, with 32 churches and 20 cisterns.
• Mount Hasan – A dormant volcano between Aksaray and Niğde whose 3,268 m summit makes it central Anatolia’s second-highest peak after Erciyes — the source of Cappadocia’s tuff and of Ihlara Valley.
• Aksaray Museum – Home to a 10,500-year-old skull bearing the earliest known brain surgery, the Ihlara and Çanlı Kilise mummies and the Luwian Aksaray Stele — 10,000 years of local history.

Sources

• Kültür Portalı – Çanlı Kilise (T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı)
• Wikipedia – Çanlı Kilise

Image credits

• The stone-and-brick façade of the Çanlı Church near Akhisar village – Katpatuka, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
• Mummies from the Çanlı Church on display in Aksaray Museum – Ingeborg Simon, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons