If you’re staying in Güzelyurt in Cappadocia it’s worth diverting six km south through the village of Sivrihisar in search of the Kızıl Kilise (Red Church). Standing in splendid isolation in a field, this magnificent free-standing sixth-century church with an octagonal dome is a rarity in Cappadocia where most churches are rock-cut. It was visited and photographed by that tireless British explorer, Gertrude Bell in 1907.
Archaeologists speculate that this was the site of Arianzus, the village where St Gregory of Nazianus was born and probably died. Across the field a small mound surmounted by a wild pear tree turned out to cover a tiny fourth-century basilica; it’s possible that St Gregory’s remains were originally buried in one or other of these two churches.
The tiny basilica stood right beside the pilgrimage route that headed south to Antioch (Antakya) and then to Jerusalem; its route is still clearly visible today.
Restoration of the dome of the Kızıl Kilise was completed in 2012.
