Early Alahan Monastery (Turkish Koja Kalessi) located above the Calycadnus valley
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | BSA SPHS Image Collection |
| Reference No. | BSA SPHS 01/2202.5787 |
| Level | Item |
| Description | Glass negative, half plate size, a copy negative. |
| Condition | Negative is very faded, particularly around the borders. |
| Dimensions | 16 x 12 cm |
| Place |
Alahan Monastery |
| Dates | 1891 |
| Donor/Creator |
Munro, Mr John Arthur Ruskin Hogarth, Mr David George |
| Project | Hogarth Travels 1891-1904 |
| Scope and Content | Part of a group of images from the 1891 travels of Hogarth and Munro in Anatolia as described in Hogarth's 1896 book, A Wandering Scholar in the Levant. The original description in the SPHS catalogue reads: "Asia Minor: later monuments: early monastery at Koja Kalessi, Calycadnus Valley. (J.H.S. Supp. II fig. 1)". |
| Notes | Date attributed to the year in which Hogarth and Munro explored parts of Anatolia - see A Wandering Scholar in the Levant (1896) and 'Modern and Ancient Roads in Eastern Asia Minor'. Supplementary Papers of the Royal Geographical Society 3(5), 1893. The citation in the original description is: A. C. Headlam, 1892. Ecclesiastical Sites in Isauria (Cilicia Trachea), Supplementary Papers No. II of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. Figure 1 in this publication does not match this image, but is a view of the doorway of the monastery. Pages 9 to 19 discuss this site. |
| Further information | Alahan Manastiri (Alahan monastery) is the mid-twentieth-century name for the late-Antique ecclesiastical complex that dominates Göksu valley in ancient Isauria. It consists of two basilicas (east and west), a baptistery, a cave church and a little cemetery. It seems that it functioned as a pilgrimage site during the first centuries of Christianity. The cave (probably a pagan shrine?) was inhabited first by a small community of monks. A free-standing basilica was soon erected nearby while another one was built to the east. The two basilicas were connected by a colonnaded walk while a spring above the midway provided water for the baptistery. Noteworthy is the high quality of the complexs stone-masonry: Isaurian craftsmen were renown for their skills in stonework. The monastery was abandoned by its Monophysite monks shortly after 518 when Justin I began his fight again Monophysitism. It was re-inhabited very likely by a new community of settlers shortly after who, however, soon abandoned the site. |
| Reference |
1892. Proceedings of The Royal Geographical Society and monthly record of geography. 14 (1): 58.No. 9. 1900 JHS 20: Catalogue of Slides. lvii.Gc 30. Link to article 1904 JHS 24: Catalogue of Slides. lxxxviii.SPHS 5787. Link to article 1913 JHS 33: Catalogue of Slides. 21.SPHS 5787. Link to article 1913 JHS 33: Catalogue of Slides. 72.SPHS 5787. Link to article |