Crowds of Turks Gather to View the Body of an 1100 Year Old Nun in Cappadocia



John Sanidopoulos, author of the weblog "Mystagogy", translated and published this article on June 19, 2014.  It was originally published in the Turkish press, Milliyet, on May 31, 2014.

CROWDS OF TURKS GATHER TO VIEW THE BODY OF AN 1100 YEAR OLD NUN IN CAPPADOCIA


A relic of a Greek Orthodox nun, which lies exposed in the museum of the city of Nigde in Cappadocia, has sparked huge interest among Turks who come in droves to see and admire in awe. As much as this sounds surprising, this relic comes from a period and place known as saint-bearing Cappadocia, where monasticism flourished, leaving until today a great historical legacy for the current residents of modern Turkey.

As mentioned in the Turkish press (and it is significant that this issue, the relic of the Greek Orthodox nun, has been reported by many Turkish newspapers, such as Milliyet), in the region of Nigde, where there was a thriving Greek Orthodox community until the population exchange, there was discovered not long ago the relic of a Greek Orthodox nun and other bones of four children.

The discovery was made in the valley of Ilhara in the district of Aksaray, an area where there were many cave monasteries and entire cities dug below ground. At the time when Orthodoxy prevailed, thousands of monks and nuns lived in the caves of the valley. . . .

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