| 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. |
