A leisurely day road trip

12/08/25

Leaving our overnight parking was later than planned. We opened the door this morning to a large friendly sheep dog. With a collar with a horse ranch name. I googled it. About 40 k north. So I rang, getting the chap out of bed. In the event a nearby resident French lady came to collect her. She wanders … had we known she was local, we would have left her. Ho hum.

We drove to Mustafapaşa, which we liked. Home to the middle class Greeks so beautifully decorated villas. When the Greeks left, the villas mostly fell into disrepair. Some are being done up. A few large rock hotels.

We walked to the monastery which is being regenerated. One of the workers opened the gate. Stone front. Rock behind and rock refectory etc.

The medresa (Islamic School) and now part of the Kapodokya University, has a fine portal. With 2 columns that are supposed to turn if an earthquake is coming. One end is definitely fixed. I checked.

A convenient water stop. The twin tub is limping, I have to catch the water that drips out and pour it back in. Even more labour intensive than it ought be. But sheets and towels all clean. They dried in hours hanging in Jez.

Cemil has an old Greek church and another middle class village that was largely abandoned. Sadly very little evidence of regeneration. Some residents made an effort with flowers.

The church actually made me gasp. And not in a good way. The frescoes are all defaced. It would once have been beautiful. Such careless decay.

I googled more about the 1923/4 population exchange. About 1.2 million Greeks left Turkey from early 1900s to 1924 to avoid ethic persecution. Many were murdered. Only about 400.000 Muslims moved to Turkey. Hence surplus housing … but immigrants from other areas took over some of the houses before the Turkish Government could repossess and allocate them. Apparently the exchange was orchestrated by F Nansen. A Norwegian international skier, explorer (the Fram expedition), influential in Norway becoming an independent state and then statesman for the League of Nations. I had read his biography… a fascinating man.

Keslik monastery chalk and cheese to Cemil church. These two churches, Byzantine and C19 Greek, are one man’s garden. Beautifully cared for, surrounded by flowers and vegetables. He relieved us of £2 each and gave us a brief intro. They are the most extensive cave complex monastery in the area.

Sobesos is a small Roman site, with no information. Still being excavated. A French family arrived just as the guard closed up and wouldn’t let them have 5 mins to look around. Given most sites shut at 7.00, this was a tad mean. Fortunately the guard didn’t stay on the site, so we did … overnight. The French couple then had to call for assistance to their flat tyre. We offered fruit and water.