Off the Beaten Path in Turkey | Trabzon, where you can show off without spending a dime.

Trabzon, a Black Sea port city in eastern Turkey, is almost a must-pass for land travel to Georgia. The city is built with birds singing and flowers fragrant, and the luxury of the long-distance bus station can hang ordinary medium-sized airports. Does this city have any famous attractions? Yes! Sumela Monastery [Figure 1-2], a Greek Orthodox cliff monastery founded in 389 AD, a quasi-world heritage site, looks quite imposing from a distance, and the interior is decorated with various frescoes. It is a geomantic treasure land where travel bloggers compete to check in and show a sense of superiority. Do you think I'm here to plant grass? NoNoNo, on the contrary, I'm here to weed! ①This monastery has been abandoned many times in history. The most recent abandonment occurred in 1923. Later, it was hit by a fire. It was not until 2010 that it was abandoned and began to be rebuilt. The current monastery is almost a replica; ②Frescoes mainly exist on the inside and outside walls of individual caves, and the preservation conditions are not very good; ③Located in a remote place, in addition to the long and not cheap long-distance transportation, it also charges 20 euros for foreign tourists. Turkish people only need about 12 yuan, which is 13 times more expensive. Killing the New Year's pig does not use this fast knife. In short, friends who are not short of money at home and have a lot of time can go to Sumela to install it. Otherwise, it is best to follow my footsteps. Let's see how to find a substitute in Trabzon and change places to install it. 1.Kızlar Manastırı (Kizlar Women's Monastery) [Figure 3-4]: Located on the small hill of Boztepe Hill in the city, it was built in the second half of the 14th century, Greek Orthodox, and has not changed much since the 19th century, but the frescoes are generally preserved. It has now become a museum, and the ticket price for both domestic and foreign countries is about 12 yuan; 2.St. Anne's Church [Figure 6-8]: It was founded in the 6-7th century AD and is the oldest church in Trabzon. It was cleaned and repaired in 2021. It is now a free museum. The area is very small, but many frescoes are clearly visible and very ornamental; 3.Hagia Sophia Mosque [Figure 9-18]: The local name Ayasofya, you know at a glance that it is another case of "ancient church converted into a mosque". The church was built in the late Byzantine period in 1250 AD, with Georgian style. It was converted into a mosque in 1584 AD. It became a museum in 1964 and was restored to a mosque in 2013. However, the frescoes and Seljuk stone carvings on the exterior walls are well preserved. The frescoes in the semi-open side hall are particularly gorgeous. I personally think it is not lost to Sumela. Free visit, no money, open to install, let go of the installation.