Viranşehir (Mokissos / Nora) Ancient City

Viranşehir (“ruined city”) is the local name of an ancient city about 30 km south of Aksaray, within the lands of Helvadere, set in a high valley formed where one of Mount Hasan’s parasitic craters filled in. Scholars identify it with the Byzantine city of Mokissos; local sources also call it Nora.

Spread over 200 hectares at about 1,500 metres above sea level, it has 32 church buildings and 20 cisterns besides its houses. The surviving buildings are Byzantine.

History

Called Mokissos in Greek sources and Mocisus by the Romans, the town is recorded as the camp of Eumenes II of Pergamon and Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia during their advance against Pharnaces I of Pontus.

According to the Byzantine historian Procopius, there was a half-ruined fort called Mokissos on the Cappadocian plain; Emperor Justinian I (527–565) pulled it down and built a huge wall on the steep, hard-to-reach ground to the west, along with many churches, hospices and public baths. In the provincial reform of 535 the city became the capital and metropolitan see of the new province of Cappadocia Tertia and was renamed Justinianopolis.

The ruins were once thought to be the Hellenistic fort of Nora (Neroassos); from the 1930s the identification with Mokissos gained acceptance. The question remains open and new research is expected to settle it.

What to see

The valley is entered through three narrow, steep-sided passes to the west, east and north. The surrounding hills form a natural wall; only the acropolis was fortified. The ruins cluster on the slopes facing the valley floor and are built entirely of rubble masonry.

• Kemerli Kilise (“Arched Church”, formerly Holy Trinity or St George)
• 32 church buildings and 20 cisterns
• The acropolis walls
• Nearby ruins of the Seljuk-period Karahan (Eshab-ı Kehf Han)

Research

The ruins became known through reports by 19th-century Western travellers and early 20th-century scholars. Between 1994 and 1996 a team led by the German researcher Albrecht Berger surveyed the city; Berger estimated about 1,000 houses, built over a Roman necropolis.

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.

Viranşehir is reached via Helvadere, about 32 km from Neva Apart — a 35–40-minute drive. The last stretch may be gravel; a higher-clearance car helps.

Tips for your visit

The site is open and unguarded; do not climb on the ruins and watch out for cistern openings. At this altitude it can be cool and windy.

Combine the Byzantine city with views of Mount Hasan and a visit to Çanlı Kilise for a full “Byzantine Cappadocia” day.

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.
• 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.
• Çanlı Kilise and Rock-Cut Settlement – Near Akhisar village, a 10th–11th-century Byzantine church and a rock-cut settlement of courtyard mansions facing Mount Hasan.
• 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

• Wikipedia – Mokissos
• Wikipedia – Helvadere

Image credits

• Ruins of the cross-plan domed Kemerli Kilise at Viranşehir – Olybrios, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
• The valley of ancient Viranşehir (Mokissos) below Mount Hasan – Olybrios, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons