Showing posts with label gulsehir. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gulsehir. Show all posts

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Gulsehir

The old name of Gulsehir, situated on the southern bank of the Red River, 20km from Nevsehir, is Arapsun and in ancient times it was called "Zoropassos". The Ottoman Grand Vizier Karavezir Mehmet Seyyid Pasha did the same thing in Gulsehir as Damat Ibrahim Pasha did in Nevsehir and a Kulliye was built in the town, which had only 30 houses. The complex consisted of a mosque, a Medrese and a fountain.


Karavezir Mosque
The mosque, having the characteristic features of the Ottoman architecture, was built using blocks of stone of two different colors. The dome covering the main area is seated on four arches.

The Ruins of Aciksaray
This important area of ruins is situated 3km from Gulsehir. There are numerous rock cuttings including Roman tombs, and churches dating back to the 9th and 10th centuries in this important bishopric.
Rock formations in the shape of mushrooms are unique to this area.

The Karsi Church (of St John)
The two floor church of St. Jean, found on entering Gulsehir, houses a church, wine cellar, graves, water channels and living quarters on the lower floor, and a church decorated with Biblical scenes on the upper floor.

The lower floor church is built to the shape of a cross, has one apse and arms of the cross are barrel-vaulted. The central dome is collapsed. Stylized animals, geometrical and crucifix designs are used to decorate the church in red ochre, which was applied directly onto the rock. The upper church has one apse, and is barrel-vaulted. Apart from those on the apse, the well-preserved frescoes were covered in a layer of black soot. The church's present state owes to the restoration and conservation done by Ridvan Isler in 1995.

The scenes from the life of Jesus and the Bible are in the form of friezes within the borders. Yellow and brown have been used on a black background. On the niche vault and on the sides, floral and geometrical patterns were used. On the west and south walls Last Judgment can be found, a scene rarely depicted in Cappadocian churches.

According to the inscription on the apse, the church is dated to 1212.

Scenes: Deesis on the apse, on its front Annunciation, below bird designs, on the barrel vault portraits of saints in medallions, on the south wing of the vault Last Supper, Betrayal by Judas, Baptism, below Koimesis (Falling Asleep of Mother Mary), on the north wings of the vault Descent from the Cross, Women at the Tomb, Anastasis, on the West and South walls Last Judgement.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Ottoman Period

The Region of Cappadocia was very peaceful also during the Ottoman Period. Nevsehir was a small village in the province of Nigde until the time of Damat Ibrahim Pasha. At the beginning of the 18th century, especially during the time of Damat Ibrahim Pasha, places like Nevsehir, Gulsehir, Ozkonak, Avanos and Urgup prospered and mosques, kulliyes (a collection of buildings of an institution, usually composed of schools, a mosque, lunatic asylum, hospital, kitchen, etc.) and fountains were built. The bridge in the centre of the town of Ozkonak, which was built during Yavuz Sultan Selim’s campaign to the east (1514), is important in terms of being an early Ottoman Period building.

The Christian people living in the area were treated with tolerance in the Ottoman Period as in the Seljuk Period. The 18th century church of Constantine-Helena in Sinasos-Urgup, the 19th century church built in honor of Dimitrius in Gulsehir and the Orthodox Church in Derinkuyu are some of the best examples of this tolerance.

Late Hittite Kingdom

LATE HITTITE KINGDOM ( 1200-700 BC )
After the Phrygians destroyed all the important towns in Central Anatolia eliminating the Hittite Empire, fragments of the Late Hittite Kingdoms sprang up around central and southeast Anatolia.

The Late Hittite Kingdom in Cappadocia was the Tabal kingdom, which extended over Kayseri, Nevsehir and Nigde. Rock monuments from this age, with Hittite hieroglyphics can be found at Gulsehir-Sivasa (Gokcetoprak), Acigol-Topada, and Hacibektas-Karaburna.