Sumela Monastery is set high up into the cliff faces of the Zigana Mountains, 46 kilometres out of Trabzon. A 1600 year old Greek Monastery located 1200 metres from sea level and set between the beautiful pine trees of the mountain, you can not argue that this is a spectacular site of the Black Sea coast. The monastery was originally founded back in 386 A.D. by two Greek priests. Its current day layout was built back in the mid 1300's and even under Byzantine, Ottoman and Russian rule the monastery was held as a sacred site to all. It was not until the collapse of the Ottoman empire and the reformation of Turkey that the monastery was abandoned and eventually turned into a museum.
To gain access to the monastery there is a short walk up the mountain through the beautiful pine forrest and past the running waterfalls. As you ascend to the entrance the views are spectacular over the tree tops and there is a lookout that gives you an all encompassing view over the monastery and the valley it lays within. Once you enter the monastery you are immediately struck with the colourful frescos on the outer walls of the complex. Inside there are even more impressive and rich coloured frescoes for you to soak up. The monastery and its location leaves you walking away with a sense of purity.
