Sumeli Monastery

Sumela Monastery (Greek: Μονή Παναγίας Σουμελά, Moní Panagías Soumelá; Turkish: Sümela Manastırı) is a 4th-5th century Orthodox monastery near Trabzon. From the 4th century until 1931, the monastery housed the icon of the Mother of God of Sumela, which, according to tradition, was painted by Luke the Evangelist.

The name Sumela is Greek (Greek: Σου Μελά) and means "black mountain". According to another version, the word "Sumela" is azure and means "Trinity".

The founder of the monastery is considered to be the Athenian priest Barnabas (375-395), and in the 6th century, the monastery, which was destroyed as a result of a devastating Arab attack, was rebuilt by Saint Sophron.

During the Byzantine era, the monastery enjoyed the favor of several emperors, and during the period of the Empire of Trebizond (1204-1461), it was a fairly wealthy and influential place. After the conquest of the Empire of Trebizond, the Sumela Monastery passed into the hands of the Ottoman sultans.

The monastery reached its peak of prosperity in the 18th-19th centuries.

On December 13, 1877, the monastery was ransacked by robbers. Only the icon of the Virgin Mary, which the monks of the monastery had carefully hidden, survived the robbery.

After Greece and Turkey exchanged populations in accordance with the provisions of the Lausanne Conference, Greeks were deported from Sumela, which led to the cessation of monastic life. On November 14, 1931, the relics of the hidden monastery, including the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary, were removed from hiding and transferred to Greece. Today, it is kept in the cathedral of the Macedonian city of Veria.

For centuries, the Sumela Monastery was considered a holy place not only for the Greeks, but also for the Christian world, although the Turkish authorities were very hostile towards Orthodox pilgrims. Pilgrimage to the monastery became possible for the first time only in 2007. On November 22, 2009, the Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Mehmet Ali-Şahin, and the Russian Duma deputy, coordinator of the Interparliamentary Commission, Ivan Savid (born in the village of Santa in Georgia), met in Moscow. The meeting discussed the problems of pilgrims, including the incident that occurred at the Trabzon airport on August 15, 2009, when an Orthodox priest was made to perform anaphora and a cross was thrown down, allegedly by order of the authorities.

In 2010, the Turkish Ministry of Culture, at the request of Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, allowed the restoration of services at the monastery, which had been suspended in 1922. On August 15, 2010, the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the Patriarch celebrated the liturgy with pilgrims from various countries.

Since February 25, 2000, the monastery has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.

There is a fee to enter the Sumela Monastery, as of 2025 it costs 20 euros. (A total of approximately 75 GEL is required)