Hagia Sophia of Trabzon

The Hagia Sophia of Trabzon is not to be confused with its far more famous namesake in Istanbul — but it has claims to attention that stand independently. Built in the 13th century during the Empire of Trebizond, this three-aisled basilica with a detached bell tower is one of the best-preserved examples of Byzantine architecture in Turkey, featuring both an impressive exterior with carved stone relief panels and a well-restored interior of frescoes.

The church is set in a small park on a low cliff above the Black Sea, about three kilometres west of the city centre, with the sea visible through pine trees. It was converted to a mosque in 1962, and the frescoes are visible alongside active Islamic use of the space. The combination of Byzantine art and Ottoman prayer mats is striking. The carved marble entrance portico is a masterpiece of 13th-century stone carving, and the apse frescoes depicting the Ascension and Pentecost are among the finest in Turkey. This is the reason to come to Trabzon.

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A story
The Hagia Sophia of Trabzon contains one of the most unusual collections of Byzantine frescoes in existence — unusual because they were preserved by being plastered over when the Ottomans converted the church to a mosque in 1461. The plaster that covered them for five centuries protected the colours perfectly. When the building was opened as a museum in 1964, restorers found the 13th-century paintings in extraordinary condition: the Last Judgement scene in the narthex is among the finest Byzantine fresco cycles surviving anywhere.