Alahan Monastery-Koja Kalessi
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | Byzantine Research Fund |
| Reference No. | BRF/01/02/02/005 |
| Level | Item |
| Place |
Alahan Monastery |
| Dates | 1890-1892 |
| Donor/Creator |
Weir Schultz, Mr Robert Barnsley, Mr Sidney Howard |
| Scope and Content | Printer proof. These fourteen itmes are printer proofs of the nos. 01/10/02/09/02 and 03 drawings of the church (BRF nos 01/02/02/2 and 3). |
| 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 |
Ecclesiastical sites in Isauria (Cilicia Trachea). 2: pl.2, fig.2. Ecclesiastical sites in Isauria (Cilicia Trachea). 2: pl.2, fig.3. |