Binbirkilise (literally: Thousand and One Churches) is a region in the antique

Lycaonia Lycaonia (; el, Λυκαονία, ''Lykaonia''; tr, Likaonya) was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west by ...

, in modern

Karaman Province Karaman Province ( tr, ) is a province of south-central Turkey. It has an area of . A 2010 estimate puts the population at 232,633 people. According to the 2000 census, the population was 243,210. The population density is 27.54 people/km. The ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, known for its around fifty

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

church ruins. The region is located on the northern slopes of the volcano Karadağ, around north of the province capital city of

Karaman Karaman, historically known as Laranda (Greek: Λάρανδα), is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According t ...

. The church ruins are situated in and around the settlements

Madenşehri Madenşehri (literally “city of mines”) is a village in the central district (Karaman) of Karaman Province, Turkey. It is situated on the northern slopes of Karadağ, an extinct volcano, and is north of the town of Karaman. The population of ...

, Üçkuyu and Değle.

Buildings

The region was a cultural center of the

Byzantine Christians Byzantine Church or Byzantine church may refer to: * Historically, the State church of the Roman Empire ** particularly, Eastern Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire * Any church that uses the Byzantine Rite a.k.a. ''Greek rite'' ** the Eastern ...

in the era between the 3rd and 8th century. There are remains of churches,

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s and habitations that are integrated in the villages. The stone materials were re-used in the today's buildings that caused continuous diminishing of the historical inventory. From the architecture historical viewpoint, the several domed basilicas of Syriac Orthodox type are interesting. The walls were built of large cut stone blocks. Due to lack of wood in the region, the buildings were topped with stone domed roofs instead of flat wooden roofs. Over the

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

s, matronea were constructed behind the upper column row. In

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

s, there were double

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

windows. The

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

es have mostly double arcades and are supported by a single column in the center. In some churches, primarily in Madenşehri, remains of

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s can be seen. Also rare

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

s from the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

are found in the surroundings.

History of research work

In 1904,

Carl Holzmann Carl Holzmann (22 February 1849, Šitboř ( Poběžovice), Bohemia, Austrian Empire – 14 September 1914, Baden bei Wien, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary) was an Austrian architect who designed several apartment buildings in the centre of Vienn ...

(1849–1914) published his ''Archäologische Skizzen'' ( en, Archaeological Sketches) about Binbirkilise. Shortly after, the region was described by British traveller and archaeologist

Gertrude Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highly ...

(1868–1926), who explored the region in 1905 during her trip through

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. She published her observations in a series of articles in the ''Revue Archéologique''. During this trip, she met in

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

Scottish archaeologist

William Mitchell Ramsay Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, FBA (15 March 185120 April 1939) was a Scottish archaeologist and New Testament scholar. By his death in 1939 he had become the foremost authority of his day on the history of Asia Minor and a leading scholar in th ...

(1851–1939). The two decided to conduct excavations in Binbirkilise that took place in 1907. The results were published along with many photos in their book ''The Thousand and One Churches''. When Bell returned to the site two years later, she found that a large part of the documented buildings had disappeared as a result of robbery for cut stone. Today, the state of destruction is much advanced as can be seen in comparison with Bell's photos. Turkish art historian

Semavi Eyice Mustafa Semavi Eyice (9 December 1922 in Istanbul, Turkey – 28 May 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey) was a Turkish art historian and archaeologist, who specialised in the study of Byzantine and Ottoman art in Istanbul. Professor Eyice is widely re ...

examined the region and published the result of his research in 1971.

Gallery

Binbirkilise2.jpg Binbirkilise3.jpg Binbirkilise4.jpg Binbirkilise5.JPG

Bibliography

(1904). ''Binbirkilise: Archäologische Skizzen aus Anatolien: ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte des christlichen Kirchenbaues'', Verlag Von Boysen & Maasch *

(2008).

Gertrude Lowthian Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highl ...

, Robert G. Ousterhout: ''The Thousand and One Churches'', University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, *

(1971). ''Recherches archéologiques à Karadağ (Binbirkilise) et dans la région de Karaman.'' Doğan Kardeş

References

{{Authority control Byzantine church buildings in Turkey Ruined churches in Turkey Byzantine sites in Anatolia Karaman Central District Former populated places in Turkey Lycaonia Archaeological sites in Central Anatolia