The Sumela Monastery, which stands at the foot of a steep cliff facing the Altındere valley in the region of Maçka in Trabzon Province, is popularly known as “Meryem Ana” (The Virgin Mary). The building complex is nearly 300 metres high and was built following the tradition of monasteries that were located outside the cities in forest near caves and sources of water.
The Monastery, founded in honour of the Virgin Mary, took the name of “Sumela” which derives from “Melas”, meaning black. Although it is thought that it has taken this name from the mountains, the KaradaÄŸlar (Black Mountains), on which stands, it could also be associated with the black colour of the icon of the Virgin Mary.
According to tradition, the Monastery was founded by two priests called Barnabas and Sophronius who came from Athens during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I (AD 375 - 395). Then, in the 6th century, it was restored by the General Belisarius at the behest Emperor Justinian who wanted it to be enlarged and restored.
Read more
Share This
It is located on the promontory of the historical peninsula in İstanbul which overlooks both the Marmara Sea and the Bosphorus. The walls enclosing the palace grounds, the main gate on the land side and the first buildings were constructed during the time of Fatih Sultan Mehmet (the Conqueror) (1451 - 81). The palace has taken its present layout with the addition of new structures in the later centuries. Topkapı Palace was the official residence of the Ottoman Sultans, starting with Fatih Sultan Mehmet until 1856, when Abdülmecid moved to the Dolmabahçe palace, functioned as the administrative center of the state. The Enderun section also gained importance as a school.
The main exterior gate of the Topkapı Palace is the Imperial Gate (Bab-ı Hümayun) which opens up to the Ayasofya Square. This gate leads to a garden known as the First Court. This court has the Aya Irini Church which was once used as an ammunition depot and behind the Church there is the mint. In the past various pavillions allocated to different services of the palace were located in the First Court. In later years these have ben replaced with public buildings and schools. Some of these are still existing. At the end of the 19th century Archeology Museum and School of Fine Arts (now Oriental Works Museum) were built in the large garden which is to the northwest of the First Court. The oldest structure in this section is the Çinili Köşk built by Fatih, which is now used as the Museum of Turkish Tiles and Ceramics. On the walls of this outer garden facing Bab-ı ali (the Imperial Gate), there is Alay Köşkü (procession Pavillion) where the Sultans used to watch the marching ceremonies. A section of the outer garden was planned by the municipality at the beginning of the 20th century and opened to the public. Known today as the Gülhane Park, the enterence has one of the larger gates of the palace. After the First Court, there is the Second Court which contains the palace buildings. Read more
Share This
It is located between two wall suports at the southern part of Ayasophia. It is an interesting product of Turkish construction and decorative arts. It was built by Sultan Mahmud I in 1739. The library consists of a reading room, the room where the books were kept under protection (hazine-i kütüb) and a corridor between these two sections. Reading room is separated from the main space of Ayasophia with a glass partion born by six colons with diamond shaped capitals and covered with a bronze mesh. The double doors of the entrance are also covered with a bronze mesh decorated with flowers and scrolling branches and has two handles engraved with “Ya Fettah”. The walls of the reading room are decorated with tiles and calligraphic friezes. On the wall opposite to the door, there is the porphyry monogram of Sultan Mahmud I, bordered with green tiles.
The corridor joining the reading room and the book storage is decorated with tile panels with flower, rose, carnation, tulip and cypress motives. These panels are unique in terms of color and form
Read more
Share This
 Click the picture to save the Mediterranean video
Video Klip Süresi: 00:07:29
Boyut: 151 MB
Video Sıkıştırıcı: DivX Pro 5.0.2
Çözünürlük: 720 X 448
Ses Sıkıştırıcı: Microsoft PCM (1)
Dil: Ä°ngilizce
Share This
 Click the picture to save the Cappadocia introduction video
time: 00:05:25
size: 97,7 MB
pro: DivX Pro 5.0.2
screen: 720 X 448
volume: Microsoft PCM (1)
Share This
