There is a place known as Santa ruins (Santa Harabeleri) in Turkey. I would like to introduce this place you.
This is a district consisting of 7 neighborhoods in borders of
Dumanlı Village belongs to Gümüşhane city and stays between Trabzon and Gümüşhane. Located exactly here on the map:
The most sensible way to reach here, where there is no public transport, to land at Trabzon airport and to rent a car and and trust your google and yandex maps shows "Santa Ruins".
There are a few historical places here. I want to share them briefly. Firstly we need to take a look briefly:
You see four names on the map. But one of them is a local facility belong to somebody, who is making his own advertisament shamesly. Anyways.
The place marked as Santa Ruins:
The place marked as Greek Ortodox church:
The place marked as "Dumanlı" (village)
If we look at the shape of the region again, the church, the ruins of Santa and the neighborhood are no more than 1 mile away from each other. so this place, I mean the Dumanlı village is also where santa lives.
If we look more carefully at the houses in the village we see that history and today are intertwined. such that it is difficult to distinguish at first glance which house is in ruins and which somebody still lives in today. I want to give an example.
the architecture of the house and the stones used in the house must have belonged to ancient times. however, the material used on the roof of the house, and also the electricity that has been supplied to the house, are showing the house is inhabited and repaired.
in this picture it is easy to see the ruins stay inside the village. so much so that it is hard to get which one of the homes or ruins have got electric.
I want to continue to share to give information and some of will be my estimation.
I don't think this building is a church because there was another building introduced as church. however, the cross symbol stands on the entrance door of the building. also the windows are different from the windows of other buildings. therefore, I believe that this building is priest's house.
View of the Dumanlı Village, Santa Ruins.
Inside Dumanlı Village, Santa Ruins.
Inside Dumanlı Village, Santa Ruins.
Inside Dumanlı Village, Santa Ruins.
Inside Dumanlı Village, Santa Ruins. village fountain, still active.
Inside Dumanlı Village, Santa Ruins. village fountain. the more recent photo shows a metal faucet mounted on the top fountain. this is the most stupid thing. In the old fountains in this region, water flows from the wooden gutters. it is both historical, natural and healthier. I hate that they have metal faucet montaged to historical buildings. I'm sure that the muhtar who made this village used it as a selection material because it brought a new faucet.
Another fountain inside Dumanlı village.
Ruins1.
High altitude the region's milk is fatty and the meat is delicious and competes with the Swiss Alps.
In spring and autumn there may be density on the roads due to arrivals and departures.
Dumanlı Village, Santa Ruins, Yanbolu Stream.
Yanbolu Stream, Dumanli, Historical Stone Bridge.
Dumanlı Village, Santa Ruins. From far distance.
Dumanlı Village, Santa Ruins. General view of the village.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, the best way to reach the region is to come to Trabzon by air, rent a car from Trabzon and trust your flat earth map. you may not find suitable places to eat and stay in the area. Since there are not many hotels in the area, it is generally preferable to go here early in the morning and return without evening hours. If you bring meat and snacks with you, it is better to prepare lunch outdoors. Of course, you can spend the night in one of the houses in this area by having an agreement with one of the villagers and have breakfast here. the best months for this will be the summer months. of course, you can also choose this period of winter to feel that spirit of santa.
There are still 300 houses and 5 churches remained today, this village is under threatening of treasure hunters. In the village, the population of which is increasing in summer, there is not much left in winter and treasure hunters make excavations and destroy churches and empty houses. I wish this district where Turkey's official archaeological site, will be declared by UNESCO World Heritage Site and got saved.
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