Bin Bir Kilise (1001 churches)

Department Archive
Collection Byzantine Research Fund
Reference No. BRF/02/02/02/003
Level Item
Place Bin Bir Kilise
Dates 1907-1909
Donor/Creator Bell, Dr Gertrude Margaret Lowthian
Scope and Content Church no 1: view from north-east. The photograph is annotated in pencil at the back.
Further information Kara Daph (the Black Mountain) is a series of volcanic rocks that dominates the plain of Konia (ancient Ikonium) in Central Anatolia. An early Byzantine city with numerous monasteries/churches (‘BinBirKilisse’ means 1001 churches), houses of clergy, cisterns and wine-presses in the broader area lies at the northern foot of the mountain. The settlement, which was probably deserted soon after the Arab invasion of Asia Minor (660AC), was re-inhabited about 850: the abandoned churches were rebuilt, the demolished houses reconstructed.

Turkish domination of the site began in 1072. The surviving churches date: a. before the Arab invasion (some of these monuments have partly been restored) b. after 850. New churches continued to be erected on the site as late as the 11th century.
Reference The Thousand and One Churches. 44, fig.3.