First religious service to be held in Sümela Monastery after 5 years

* Photos: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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The religious service suspended due to restoration works in Sümela Monastery will continue on August 15 after five years. Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomeos will not attend the ceremony due to coronavirus.

With restoration works completed, Sümela Monastery in Turkey's Black Sea province of Trabzon has started receiving its visitors.

Sümela Monastery is a Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary located at Karadağ (meaning "Black Mountain") within the Northern Anatolian Mountains in the Maçka district of Trabzon province. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it is also known with this name among the locals.

While it is not known for certain when the monastery was founded, Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism places the date around AD 386, during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I (375 - 395).

During its long history, the monastery fell into ruin several times and was restored by various emperors, reaching its present form in the 13th century.

The principal elements of the Monastery complex are the Rock Church, several chapels, kitchens, student rooms, a guesthouse, a library, and a sacred spring revered by Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Apart from these, the Monastery has 72 other rooms.

Listed in the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage Sites since 2000, Sümela Monastery hosted the first Orthodox divine liturgy on August 15, 2010 after 88 years. The religious ceremony marking the "assumption of Virgin Mary" was led by Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomeos.

On September 22, 2015, the Monastery was closed to visitors due to restoration and fieldwork. (AÖ/SD)