Writer: Yavuz İşçen
May 2008

The Belisırma Village of Güzelyurt district is located just in the middle of Ihlara Valley. Visiting this village is a golden opportunity for the ones who want to taste a typical Anatolian village. The Melendiz Stream adds different aspects to the village. There are many restaurants nearby the stream under the shadow of the trees. The restaurants offer you the delicious fresh fish and local food almost everyday. There are seven important churches around the village, which you may visit by a short distance walk.
It is known that once upon time there were 100 churches in Ihlara Valley. Today 14 of them are open to public. Seven of these fourteen churches are situated around Belisırma Village. You may visit the churches if you have short trekking around the village.

Batkın Church (Açıkel Ağa Church): It is located on the west side of Melendiz Stream close to Belisırma Village. As you follow the road down to Belisırma from the west and give a small break on the terrace with an excellent view and then continue the road and here you are, the church on foot. The church is from 8th century and unfortunately most of the frescoes are damaged. 
Direkli Church: It is located on the west side of the Melendiz Stream. As you follow the road down to Belisırma Village from the west, on your right side you will find the church. The Church has been constructed as a Greek Cross and used as a monastery. The Church is situated on six columns and if has a central dome and three apsises. Since the Church is situated on the columns it was named as Direkli Church. By the help of the consecration script it is understood that the Church was built on 11th century. The frescoes are really damaged. There are only geometrical motives in the funeral ceremonies area. It is thought that these motives have been drawn during the Iconoclasm period (726-843). One of the good health frescoes is Pantacrator Jesus Christ and it is attractive.
Bahattin Samanlığı Church: It is situated on the west side of the Melendiz Stream. You may find the Church after 50m as you follow the road from Direkli Church towards the Ihlara Valley. It is a small church with one corridor. Since in the past the Church was being used as a hayloft by a person called Bahattin, today the Church is known by the name Bahattin Samanlığı Church. The frescoes, which reflect mellow artistic approach, are well protected although they darken because of the smoke. It is thought that the frescoes was made in the middle of 10th century or at the beginning of 11th century. On the south wall of the Church, next to each other the stories of announcement, visit, water experiment and death of Zechariah were generated. Beside these, on the other frescoes, different scenes from Bible were figured as a serial. 
Kırk Dam Altı Church (Saint Georgios Church): The other church situated on the west side of the Melendiz Stream is Kırk Dam Altı Church. You may reach to the Church in 10 minutes as you start walking from Bahattin Samanlığı Church to the direction of Ihlara Borough. The Church is almost 1km far away from the Belisırma Village. It has been built by carving into the rocks comparatively higher than the bottom of the Valley. The apsis of the Church was collapsed. Today this collapsed part is being used as an entrance. The flat ceiling Church has ragged hexagon plan. 
The Kırk Dam Altı Church, which has been built between 1283 and 1295 due to the scripture of the Church, mostly was being used for the funeral ceremonies. During its period the Church had the characteristic of one of the most visited holly places. There are many cavited graves on the ground of the Church however since ground of the Church was covered by soil during the time, the number of the graves are not clear. 
The Church was built during Anatolian Seljuk period. It is known that one of the Christian commanders of the Sultan Mesut II and his wife took part in the construction. And they dedicated the Church to Saint Georgios. The frescoe which talks about this vowing scene is certainly one the most important frescoes of the Church. Also seeing the figure of Mesut II in one of them is very interesting. The Turkish way of knotting the tails of the horses, the Turkish style clothings as well as the Turkish motives on the dresses are also important in the sense of Turkish cultural history. In addition to these, it is possible to see the scenes of prayer, death of Virgin Mary, transfiguration, etc. in the church. 
Ala Church: It is located on the east part of the Melendiz Stream and on the north of Belisırma Village center. It is on the right side of the road to Güzelyurt. The rock situated on the exterior of the Church was uniformed. The monastery church building has a cross plan. And it has a central dome. The frescoes are mostly damaged. The remain ones are also under dense smoke. Some of the scenes of the frescoes are, visit, birth, journey to Jerusalem, the last dinner, three Jewish youngsters in the oven and figures of different saints, etc. 
In one of the divisions of the Church there is a merchant which was built later on. During the period of non-electricity, like most of the Anatolia, within the Cappadocia region, people were using ‘linseed tinder’ for lightening. The linseed oil was made of by squeezing the linseed and ‘ızgın’ [Eruca cappadocica Reut. (Cruciferae)] seed in merchants. It is thought that most of the merchants in Cappadocia was producing linseed oil for trade. The foundings of paraffin oil and the usage of kerosene lamps in Anatolia at the beginning of 20th century for lightening, reduced the need of linseed oil and merchants. During the time, this manufacturing trade retreated and lost its importance. Some of the churches in Cappadocia region were converted into merchants during the Islamic period. 
Bezirhane Church: You may reach to the Church which is located on the east side of the Melendiz Stream, by 10 minutes walking from Belisırma Village. Since later on the Church was used as a merchant, it is called like this. It is a small church with one corridor and apsis and flat ceiling. The frescoes in the Church are very beautiful but unfortunately they were damaged alot. It is thought that the Church was constructed on either at the end of 12th century or at the begining of 13th century. 
Karagedik Church (Saint Ermolaos Church): It is situated at the east side of the Melendiz Stream. The Greek of Belisırma Village used to call the Church as ‘Saint Ermolaos’. All the churches of Ihlara Valley was engraved into the rocks except Karagedik Church which was constructed by stones. The Church is some how similar to Çanlı Church near to Akhisar Village. The frescoes of the Church seems to be painted on 10th or 11th century but it’s architectural style resembles Neo Byzantine period. Because one of the rocks fell out the Church, some parts of the Church was collapsed. There are few frescoes left for today.

Note: This article has been published in Peribacası Cappadocia Culture and Publicity Magazine, May 2008 issue. It is under protection of the copyrights of the magazine. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by electronic, mechanical or other means without prior permission from the owner. www.cappadociaexplorer.com