Trabzon Sumela Monastery part 2 : virgin mary as black madonnas
336-280 demoIt is said that ‘Sumela’ (the Greek name of this monastery, founded in the name the Virgin Mary), comes from the word ‘melas’, which means ‘dark’ or ‘black’. Many consider that this stems from the dark hues of the mountain valley in which the Monastery is situated. However, in the opinion of the author the word ’sumela’ could be an adjective used to refer to the icon of the Virgin Mary. The colour of the icon, which is so dark that it could be described as black, was one of the things that struck the eminent historian J.P Fallmerayer (1790-1861) when he visited the Monastery in 1840 and could well be the origin of the name. It is known that I2th century Georgian art produced a number of icons of the Virgin Mary known as Black Madonnas, and these icons found their way into a number of monasteries. Black was used in orderto emphasise the mysterious expression on the Virgin’s face. It is also considered that the origins of this Georgian style could be traced to ancient Indian art. If the close proximity of the Sumela Monastery to the Caucasus is considered, then it would be reasonable to assume that this icon is a Black Madonna from which the Sumela Monastery gained its name. Thus, the mountain also became known as Oros Mela (Kara Dag) because of the Monastery.
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