The Sumela Monastery is a Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary at Mela mountain, in the region of Macka in the Trabzon Province of modern Turkey. Nestled in a steep cliff at an altitude of about 1,200 metres facing the Altındere valley, it is a site of great historical and cultural significance, as well as a major tourist attraction of Altındere National Park.
Karaca Cave is known since ancient times, the entrance area was used as a natural shelter by ancient man. The area around the cave consists of 1000m thick andezitic and basaltic lavas, tufas and agglomerates. In between this volcanic rocks lie some small patches of sedimentary rocks of limestone and marl. The cave is located in such a patch of marble, which is heavily fractured.
Karaca cave has abundant speleothems, and the most impressive sight are numerous rimstone pools. Getting bigger and more beautiful towards the end of the cave they are up to 1m deep. The pools are often filled with dripping water, but there is no cave river any more. The tour follows the horizontal main passage of the cave through four chambers. Two of the chambers are divided by such an amount of speleothems, that most people would count six chambers. The passage is rather big, starting at about 2m at the entrance it becomes higher and the average height is 18m.
Tour Programme;
Pick up from your hotel in Istanbul and transfer to the Airport flight to Trabzon. After arriving at Trabzon Airport, our trip will start with
- Arrival in Sumela Monastery and sightseeing
- Meeting and depart for Zigana
- Lunch at Zitas
- Arrival in Karaca Cave and sightseeing trip
- Arrival in Hamsikoy and rice-pudding and photography
Transfer to Trabzon airport. Flight from Trabzon to Istanbul. Arrive in Istanbul and transfer to your hotel in Istanbul. End of the tour.
