Sumela Monastery Trabzon Turkey Editorial Photo

Legend has it that the monastery known as Panagia tou Melas (Our Lady of Black Mountain), later Sumelas or Sumela, was founded in the fourth century by Athenian monks named Barnabas and Sophronius. It was sacked in the seventh century, but rebuilt. It was richly endowed by the pocket Empire of Trebizond and by later Ottoman sultans. Its present form dates largely from the 19th century, when numerous monks entertained throngs of pilgrims, both Christians and Muslims, and presided over an important library. Trabzon/TURKEY.