1001 Churches
If you’re staying in Karaman you might want to drive out northwest towards the Karadağı (Black Mountain) in search of a collection of romantic ruins standing in splendid isolation. Although the site is called Binbirkilise (1001 Churches), there are only really around 40 churches dating back to Byzantine times spread across two sites, the lower of them called Madenşehri, the upper Değle (or Üçkuyu).
As you near the old, largely abandoned village of Madenşehri, you’ll see the remains of several churches including a huge 5th-century edifice, and an enigmatic structure that looks like an enormous free-standing apse, its exact purpose unclear. In 2015 Karaman Museum staff were working to clear accumulated soil from inside the churches, partly for research purposes but partly to prepare them for more visitors. To that end most residents of Madenşehri have been relocated to homes in a new village nearby.
The road continues uphill past Madenşehri until it arrives eventually at Değle where the ruins of several more churches are so intermingled with each other and with the surrounding houses (built, in any case, out of stones taken from the ruins) that it’s impossible to say exactly how many there are.
Amidst the ruins of the Değle churches there was once a mosque which has fallen into graffiti-covered disrepair. There are also remains of many graves, some carved into the rock, others formed from stones. One ancient sarcophagus still has carvings on its side that become easier to make out once water is poured on them. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric spot, completely unspoilt. You will probably share it only with the birds and the tortoises.
Elsewhere on the hillside there are many other ruins including those of several castles and a Roman pool. A sign points 5km uphill to a volcanic crater although my driver insisted that you needed advance permission from Karaman to visit it.
Early in the 20th century the redoubtable British traveller, Gertrude Bell, mapped out all the structures at Binbirkilise together with the biblical scholar, Sir William Ramsay. The result was their co-authored book, The Thousand and One Churches.
Sleeping and eating
There is nowhere to stay here, nor is there a shop; bring water and snacks with you.
Transport info
Without your own car you will need to hire a taxi in Karaman to make the 42km journey. Locals know the route well.
