Trabzon Sumela Monastery part 4 : Barnabas and Sophronios
336-280 demoTo put it in a nutshell, the Sumela Monastery at Trabzon was first referred to by this name in the Komnenos period. Sumela was founded in what must be the most beautiful spot in the magnificent scenery of this area, in which there are a number of monasteries, places of worship and other buildings of a religious nature. Sumela expanded over the centuries of Ottoman rule and became a complex of considerable size. The centre of the complex is a cave, or rather a hollow almost 1200 m above sea level and about 300 m above the river at the bottom of the valley, in the middle of a slope so steep it could be said to be almost vertical. The narrow head of rock jutting out in front of the cave, access to which is tiring and difficult in the extreme, formed the foundation of the Monastery, which grew in size and accumulated wealth over the centuries. Sumela is themostfamous of the old monasteries in and around Trabzon.
It is known that mountains, high ground and caves have been invested with religious significance ever since ancient times. It is possible that there was once an altar in the cave and that as Christianity began to spread a group of monks setup a retreat. Of course, this hypothesis is based on information gained about similar cases. Only a detailed study and excavations carried out in and around the cave itself could cast light on its accuracy. However, no exact information can be gained at present. Although it is obvious that the legend about the Monastery having been founded by Barnabas and Sophronios in the reign ofTheodosius (4th-5th century) and repaired by Belisarios, one of Justinian’s commanders, does not rest on concrete fact, like many legends it survives. If the foundation legend is ignored, then the existing monastery buildings point to its having been built some time after the thirteenth century. At that time the Principality of Trabzon, underthe Komnenos Dynasty, was developing as an entirely separate state within the Byzantine Empire and its capital, Trabzon, dominated the area. The title held by the princes, who saw themselves as the true heirs of the Byzantine Empire and described themselves as emperors was not accepted by the true Byzantine Empire when, in 1261, it regained control of Istanbul and revitalised the old Byzantine state. It was Alexios Komnenos III (1349-1390) who maintained an intricate system of contacts with the neighbouring Turkish beyliks (the equivalent of principalities) who should be considered as the true founder of this monastery. Historical sources and documents point to the fact that Alexios III, whose two sisters and four daughters were married to Turkish beys (rulers of beyiiks). took a special interest in the Sumela Monastery. It also emerges that Alexios’s great grandfather, grandfather and father had made donations to the monks, which would indicate that Sumela had been a religious centre since the reign of loannes II (1280-1285), great grandfather of Alexios. According to another legend Alexios III, who was saved from certain death in a storm by the intervention of the Virgin Mary, had the monastery rebuilt and endowed it with rich foundations, the conditions of which were set out in a Krysobullos, or decree. A verse consisting of five lines inscribed on a tablet dated 1360, which was overthe monastery gates until 1650 states that ‘Alexios III, founder (ktetor) ofthis place, is emperor of East and West (Iberia)1. In 1361 Alexios witnessed an eclipse of the sun here at Sumela and the sun depicted on coins minted byAlexios is considered to refer to this event. In the Deed of Foundation, dated 1365, apart from references to the administration, land and income of the monastery there is also a warning about the ‘danger of a Turkish invasion of Trabzon’ and the monks are urged to be’always on the alert’. Manuel III (1390-1417), son of Alexios III, like his father, took an active interest in buildings of a religious nature. In the year of his succession he presented an ornate cross believed to contain a holy relic (stavrotek), in this case a piece of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, to the Sumela Monastery. The last members of the Trabzon Komnenos dynasty issued decrees endowing the monastery with great wealth or sanctioning its deeds of foundation. After the conquest of Trabzon and the surrounding area by the Ottomans, the sultans issued decrees protecting the ancient rights of the Sumela Monastery, just as they had for the monasteries on Mount Athos and atSina, in fact they even granted certain privileges to Sumela and presented gifts as well. Thus the two candlesticks once in the Monastery are known to have been presented by Selim I (1512-1520). A decree issued by Mehmet II, conqueror of Trabzon, acknowledging the rights of the monastery exists. Local publications inform us that other, similar decrees were kept in the monastery; these include the decrees of Bayezid II, Selim II, Selim III, Sultan Murad and Ibrahim, Mehmed II, Suleyman the Magnificent, Mustafa and Ahmet III. It has been established that the Voivodas of Wallachia took a close interest in Sumela from the second half of the 18th century onwards, constantly despatching letters and aid. Among these rulers was Ghikas (1755), Stephan (1764), and Hypsilantes (1775) Naturally, all the correspondence between the Patriarchate in Istanbul and the monastery throughout the Ottoman period was kept in the archives of the monastery. Sumela both expanded and grew richer underthe aegis of the Voivodas in the I8th century and many parts of it were rebuilt. Archbishop Ignatios had the surfaces of all the walls adorned with frescos in 1749. The golden age of this monastery was unquestionably the I9th century, when rebuilding and magnificent decorations were carried out with gifts sent in a wave of enthusiasm by Greek Orthodox communities all over Anatolia.
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