The Armenian Surb Amenaprkich Monastery – Trabzon

Today, I will tell you about another monument of the era when Pontus was inhabited by Christians. It is the Armenian monastic complex Surb Amenaprkich located in the outskirts of Trabzon.

The date of the monastery’s establishment is unknown. It has been supposedly founded in the 13th century when the Armenians arrived in Pontus, having escaped from the invasion of the Mongols in Asia Minor. The monastery has once been surrounded by walls, and only their ruins are left today.

The main church of the monastery has a metal roof. As the Turks shamelessly state, the monastery’s roof has been damaged in a fire. Of course, there has been no fire, and we will ascertain it a bit later.

The church is kept locked these days, and the key to its door can be obtained for a small bribe to the owner of the monastery. On one of the photos, Grisha is going to him to negotiate the deal.

Let’s now go to the monastery and see the traces of the so-called fire. The Turks use the tales of various fires as an excuse. “You see, a fire occurred, it happens…”

Why are there no traces of soot and of physical damage to the frescos then?  I don’t know whether or not first-grade schoolkids would buy into those tales, probably not. However, the Turks make such statements cold-bloodedly nonetheless. The frescos, by the way, have been gorgeous, according to 17th-18th-century historians.

Here you have this monastery, which is yet another testimony to the Turkish vandalism. What I think is the most disgusting thing is that the tales of the fires are shamelessly repeated by Russian touristic agencies in their descriptions of sights aimed at unconscionably attracting the buyers of Turkish tours.

One more thing. The Turkish name of the monastery is “Kaymakli”, which derives from the word “kaymak”, meaning “sour cream”. One Turkish sultan once paid a visit to the monastery and was satisfied with its creamery, hence the monastery’s Turkish name. You truly need to have a Turkish mind to name a monastery in honor of the sour cream. And that’s the sultan! In theory, he needs to be the most educated! What else are we expecting from ordinary Turks?

Aleksey Koimshidi. Photos and their captions were also made by Koimshidi.