The monastery. Fantastic!
Trabzon is not a highly tourist visited area. It is perched on a hill overlooking the Black Sea. At first glance, it seems to have many very ugly houses an buildings. This is really just the port area. When we boarded our coach to head to the mountains, we saw this place turn into a wonder of the world. The mountains are like none I have ever seen. STEEP, full of dense tress and unsual trees. They grow hazel nuts here and they are the world's largest producer of hazel nuts, producing 60% of the world's hazel nuts. If you love them, this is the place for you! As we climbed further and further into the mountains it was clearly becoming evident that we were not only in for a treat but for an experience of a lifetime. We are on our way to see the Sumela monastery. This monastery was built in the 14th century by monks. There was at one time a fresco there done by St. Luke of The Virgin Mary. It is no longer there, stolen or put into protection, nobody knows for sure, but over time the monastery has been vandalized. People have defaced the frescoes and even chipped away at them to steal a piece of beautiful history. The monastery itself is built clinging to the side of a sheer cliff. It is an unforgettable sight. You stand there wondering how in the world back in the 14th century, with no roads, only hand tools, very few beasts of burden..how did they build this? It is a miracle, it has to be, no other explanation except they were a group of about 25 monks that loved their religion so much, they risked life and limb to build this. See for yourself. You too will be amazed. I will tell you, the trek to get there was about a 1 hour bus ride, then we transferred to small mini-vans to make our way through smaller roads, then got out and walked up the last 30 minutes up the mountain. Kathleen and I elected to hike down the mountain afterwards, we made it, but I don't know if I would do that part again again. It was a long way down that mountain!
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