Monday, August 15, 2011

Sumela Monastery


image via Wikipedia

The history of Sumela Monastery began in 386 AD, when a couple of priests found a black Madonna hidden in a cave behind the amazing 1860 facade we see here. Why they were clinging to a cliff hundreds of feet above the Altindere River is a mystery to me, but caves and especially monasteries seem to like remote locations. You can't tell how high up it is in that picture, so here's another to give you a better idea.

Image via Wikipedia
While the Black Madonna ties goddess culture nicely into my story again, I just adore the location for my Peri. Forests and secret places are a specialty for them, and I'm picturing my character going up the mountain through one of the famous fogs of the area, looking for sanctuary.

Anyhoo, my brain is so far from useful lately, where writing is concerned. Too much vacation has made my synapses rusty. The kids go back to school soon, though, and Ramadan will be over, so I'll be able to get back into a normal rhythm. I hope. I signed myself up for a critique at the Charlotte SCBWI conference in September, so I'll need to get the ole rear in gear to get myself ready for that. I'm going to spend this week getting back into the blogosphere and commenting. I think some of you are starting to wonder where I went...



Visit Sumela Monastery in Turkey by 5minTravel

7 comments:

Deniz Bevan said...

Love this building! Hope to visit it someday...

Old Kitty said...

How amazing!! But why, why, why build in such a place? They must have been hiding from some marauders or some such!! Wonderful and brilliant to see it still etched on the rockface like so!! Brilliant!!!It's a most sublime engineering feat and certainly an inspiration for your writing!!

Thanks for sharing, take care x

Sarah said...

Ah, this is why I come to your blog, Carolyn! What an amazing place--thanks for introducing me to it!

Carolyn V said...

Wow. That picture is amazing!

No problem on the blogging, I took a couple months vacation from the blogging and it was well worth it. =)

Golden Eagle said...

Wow. It's in an amazing location!

Jules said...

I think they built it there because back then it was all about location, location, location! :)

Hey and after a year now your blog has decided to show up in my reader, YE HAW!
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

LTM said...

whoa! That is beyond cool. You really appreciate it in the second shot...

And hey! GOOD LUCK w/the SCBWI crit! Is this something new, perchance??? Sounds very cool~ (as always) <3

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