Two of the most impressive buildings in the abandoned village of Kayaköy are its churches. They're Greek Orthodox, which means that even in ruins they're more spectacular than many churches I've seen! And they're still in a surprisingly good state.
Around the back of one church lurks another surprise: a bone house, where the bones were kept when the grave was to be re-used. I was quite astonished to hear they washed the bones in wine (not the good stuff, I hope).
11 comments:
So strange. Were the churches bombed and that is why their walls have decayed?
That place looks like the perfect setting for a ghost story!
Wow very interesting place to visit ! nice photos thank you for sharing !
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How haunting and yet lovely.
No bombs involved. Just greed. The "Greeks" were afraid to take their gold with them lest it was stolen at the quayside, so they hid it. The remaining villagers suspected there was much hidden gold so went a-hunting. They suspected that some would be in the walls of the church so they tapped the plaster untill it sounded hollow then they chipped their way in to find either the clay pots built in for acoustic reasons or the holes where the "scaffold" had been built in during construction. Next came the scavengers for firewood and for iron. Finally a few [?] muslim extremists who defaced any of the faces of Jesus and the apostles and any crosses they could reach.
I suppose washing the bones in wine was a way of expressing care and respect for the dead.
Enjoyed reading your travel stories! Really fascinating stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Fascinating! And beautiful photos.
This is very interesting and I'd love to hear more about the wine ritual of soaking bones. Definitely looks like a haunted location.
I don't understand why they are reusing their graves but, if they have to do it, might as well wash those bones in wine!
the washing of the bones in wine is an ancient greek ritual - i am performing it tomorrow on my father's bones in preparation for the next relative to be buried in the family grave (and the wine that will be used was made by my father a decade ago)
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