habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

NOTES ON SOME RUPESTRIAN CHURCHES OF ORTAHISARC. CrescenziDipartimento di Architettura, Disegno, Storia, Progetto; Facoltà di Architettura; Università degli Studi di Firenze, ItaliaIntroductionSince the fifth century, the area of Ortahisar housed religiouscommunities: its monastic character was pre-eminent until theTurkish occupation.The centre contains religious structures of great architecturaland artistic value: much is still to be studied and “discovered”.Since the religious structures had been incorporated in privatehouses that were restructured during the migration of the earlytwentieth century, the heritage of worship places has suffereddestruction and transformation.The presence of monasteries, churches and hermitages in theterritory of Ortahisar and in the rest of Cappadocia is certainlyrelated to the location of worship places; in order to have aproper view of the general situation we must think of the spiritualfeeling developed in each population. In Santorini thereis a great number of churches and chapels beyond any logicalreligious thought, and the chapels correspond to individualfamilies.The Cappadocian inhabitants follow a Greek rite, so there isno use in comparing the single monuments, but rather the urbansettlements, the distribution and the typology of worshipplaces needs further investigation.Some churches are remarkable for the majesty of their spaces,which makes them more similar to Romanic cathedrals than torupestrian churches in Southern Italy.In Europe, the church of Saint Jean in Aubeterre sur Dronnehas a similar impressive appearance. This was excavated in acliff along the river Loire: it is 27 metres long, 16 metres wideand 20 metres high. The original church, from the V century,had minor dimensions, and it was extended in the XII century,to house the relics from the Empty Tomb.Monasteries and churches in OrtahisarDistrict Eski / Atik MahalleAnonymous church (coord. 38.620052; 34.864001). Along thefirst path at the base of the castle and on the West front, thereis a monastic complex of considerable size.The front is much compromised, and has suffered considerablecollapses. The molded wall is probably the vestibule whichdisengaged the various buildings.In the remaining part, it is still possible to read a partitionof the environment highlighted with slightly protruding pilasters,which stood out from the arch dividers of the possiblebarrel vault. It is likely that the partition was in five parts asthe one of the vestibule of Allach or Şahinefendi. A corniceruns along the wall, pointing out the openings and dividingthe pilasters into two parts. In the first molded partition fromthe left, there is a lunette entrance that leads into a barrelvaultedroom. The lunette has a ring on which there are stillsome remaining ocher geometric designs and it is opened witha non coeval window, as it can be read on the inner wall; thetop floor is marked by a frame from which still rises part ofthe wall and the ceiling. Some niches were later obtained onthe sides.The second entrance is flanked by two perhaps posthumouslynarrower bays with windows, closed by arches. The wall isFig. 1 Panoramic view, Ortahisar. 1 Small churches, 2 Protected entry to the Ortahisar valley, 3 Corisba church.257volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 257 16/11/2012 15:04:07