NEVSEHIR - Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew led on Friday a religious ceremony at the Church of Constantine and Helen in Mustafapasa hamlet in Urgup town of central Nevsehir province.
Romanian Patriarch Teoctist, Romania's Kluz Archbishop Bartholomew, Ayvalik Metropolitan Apostolos, Sinasos Association Chairman Spiros Isopoulok and Orthodox people from several countries attended the ceremony. The ceremony was held as a part of the Third Sinassos Culture and Arts Festival.
Following the ceremony, Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew told reporters that he sincerely believed that Turkey would join the European Union (EU).
Bartholomew said that Turkey had already deserved EU membership thanks to its cultural heritage and mission.
Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew expressed pleasure that people could hold religious ceremonies in many parts of Anatolia, particularly in Cappadocia.
Bartholomew thanked Turkish officials for their support to Orthodox people to perform their religious practices in the churches around Anatolia which had been closed for 80 years.
In the strange and wonderful landscape of Cappadocia is the old, tranquil and picturesque town of Mustafapasa 5 kilometers from Urgup. Known formerly as Sinassos, this is a small town of 2,500 inhabitants where originally Turks and Greeks lived side by side, and the sound of church bells mingled with the call to prayer from the mosque.
Sinassos Hotel, originally the private residence of an Anatolian Greek who owned shops in Istanbul's Fish Market and built in 1892, Sakir Pasa Madrasah, an Ottoman period university college with an intricately carved portal now housing a traditional carpet center, are worth seeing in Mustafapasa.
Mustafapasa was given tourism site status in 1981, and the 93 traditional stone houses in the town dating from the late 19th and early 20th century are under conservation order and awaiting restoration.
The Church of Constantine and Helen is one of the town's foremost monuments. It is dedicated to Constantine the Great and his empress, Helena. The frescos date from 1895 and were executed by a Greek artist named Kostis Meletyades who had been trained in Venice.
The town is surrounded by apricot, apple and pear orchards, and vineyards. Wine production is a major part of the local economy, and there are two wine factories with a total output of around 600 tons per year.
The hills around are filled with Byzantine rock churches, chapels and monasteries.
Urgup, 20 kilometers east of Nevsehir, is a lively tourist center and has all the characteristics of the region. Besides this, it is the center of a wine producing region and every year in October an International Wine Festival is held. In Urgup you can see how people once lived in houses carved into the rock, along the narrow streets. This is a good place for buying carpets and kilims. Pancarlik Valley, the Mustafapasa (Sinassos) and Cemil villages, with their traditional stone houses, the Taskinpasa and Sahinefendi villages where 12th century Kirksehitler Church is located, Devrent and Catalkaya Valleys are famous for their fairy chimneys, and are the places not to be missed.
Cappadocia region shows a spectacular and surprisingly different landscape with its wind and water eroded volcanic tuff based soil. There are thousands of natural, pyramid shaped rock formations and cave-like settlement places carved by humans since the early ages throughout the region.
(BRC-AÖ) 21.05.2004