MOSQUE ON 2ND FLOOR OVER CHURCH IN SOUTHERN TURKISH PROVINCE
Hurriyet
May 25 2010
Turkey
Turkey’s southern province of Hatay offers a unique experience with
its religious diversity, fascinating visitors with its mystical
ambience. An Armenian church believed to have been built between
1633 and 1646 underneath a newer mosque stuns tourists. ‘The church
has been neglected for so long and it needs urgent restoration,’
says the mosque’s imam
The Armenian church with a mosque on top in Yogunoluk is a symbol of
Hatay now, says Tahsin Kurtbeyoglu, district governor of Samandag.
In the southeastern province of Hatay, along the Syrian border, it
is not unusual to see a mosque, a church and a synagogue all on the
same street – or even right on top of each other.
In Yogunoluk village, part of the province’s Samandag district, for
example, there is an Armenian church believed to have been built
between 1633 and 1646 underneath a newer mosque that is open for
religious services.
The area’s diverse religious heritage, along with its seaside and
caves, gives Samandag high tourism potential, district governor Tahsin
Kurtbeyoglu told the Anatolia news agency.
Every year, thousands of tourists from different religious backgrounds
come and visit the historical sites in the district, Kurtbeyoglu said,
adding that Hatay, which was home to many civilizations over thousands
of years, fascinates visitors with its mystic ambience.
The seven-meter high Titus Tunnel is a must-see sight in the district,
according to Kurtbeyoglu. Built by Roman emperor Vespasianus and
his son Titus to prevent floods of rainwater coming down from the
mountains, the tunnel took 10 years and the labor of a thousand slaves
to complete.
“We have a lot of tourist wealth, such as the St. Simon Abbey, which
contains three churches, a baptistery and many cisterns, rock-cut
architecture built in Roman times and the almost 2,300-year-old
‘Moses Tree,'” Kurtbeyoglu said, adding that the Armenian church with
a mosque on top in Yogunoluk is “a symbol of Hatay now.”
The church was built and used by Armenians and the building is now
under the authority of the General Directorate of Foundations, the
district governor said. According to Kurtbeyoglu, the historical
building has never been renovated, but the regional Directorate of
Foundations plans to carry out restoration work on the structure.
A concrete minaret was built on the stonework church after Armenians
left the village in the 1940s, a change that was made without harming
the architecture of the original structure, according to the imam at
the mosque, Mehmet Gulistan. “The two places of worship have different
architecture and different entrances; neither of them harms the other,”
he said.
While the mosque is open to services, the church, which is frequently
visited by domestic and foreign tourists, is currently closed, Gulistan
said. “The church is mostly visited by Armenians. The tourists are
stunned to see a mosque on top of a church,” he said.
“They like the way two different religions’ places of worship stand
together. But the church has been neglected for so long and it needs
urgent restoration.”
The renovation of the church would help the village attract more
tourists, Gulistan added.
From: A. Papazian