Trabzon Sumela Monastery part 5 : Sultan Murat
336-280 demoAccording to what Fallmerayer wrote in 1840, the monks of Sumela travelled the whole of Anatolia, the Caucasus, the Balkans and even Russia to collect money by selling rather poor copies of the icon referred to above. This money would then betaken backtothe monastery. One of these monks, who was carrying the sum of forty thousand kurus. a fortune in those days, was robbed and murdered in Kayseri. The Ottoman state had the murderers arrested and executed and the stolen money was returned to the monastery. The interior of the monastery was sumptuously appointed and around 1860 new structures were added, forming a large complex of buildings. A number of foreign travellers visited the monastery in the 19th century and wrote about it.
One of the most detailed descriptions of the Sumela Monastery is that of G. Palgrave (1826-1888). In an article published in February, 1871 he provides a great deal of interesting information, among which is a statement to the effect that the popular legend about an army led by Sultan Murat firing cannon at its walls is entirely lacking in foundation because Murat’s army could not have been anywhere nearthe monastery. When Palgrave made his visit a large, barrack-like structure referred to as the new building1 had been completed three years previously. According to what Palgrave saw, the structure consisted of seven storeys including the arches in the abyss itself; the actual living quarters had four rows of windows and there was a setback storey on top. There were single rows of eight rooms on each floor and the structure was an extremely sound one. Palgrave, too, refers to the gifts made by Murat and Selim I and states that he saw a miniature of the decree issued by Alexios III. According to a decree issued by Selim II, which Palgrave saw in the monastery, it is stated openly that the sultan was displeased by unfavourable remarks made about himself by the monks.
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