Kırkdamaltı Church (St George)

Just outside Belisirma village, on the cliff above the river. The Forty-Roofed Church is one of the latest in Ihlara, dating to the 13th century when the Seljuks already ruled the surrounding lands. The frescoes show a more refined Constantinopolitan style than the older churches downstream.

St George is the patron, and a fresco of him spearing the dragon dominates the apse. There's also a fine standing portrait of the donor couple, dressed in Seljuk court clothing — a vivid record of how Christian and Islamic culture lived side by side in 13th-century Cappadocia.

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A story
A donor inscription survives showing a Turkish-named couple — Basil Giagoupes and his wife Tamara — kneeling beside St George. The date and the names show how Greek Christians in the valley adopted Seljuk Turkish names while continuing to commission Christian frescoes in the 13th century.