Alahan Monastery

Alahan sits on a rock terrace about twelve hundred metres up, looking out over the Göksu gorge, and it is one of the more important early Byzantine buildings in Anatolia. Built in the fifth century, the complex runs along the terrace: a basilica cut partly into the rock at the western end, a colonnaded walkway linking it to the eastern church, a baptistery, tombs cut into the cliff and monastic quarters. The eastern church is the reason specialists come - its stonework is finely carved, with figured capitals, and its plan, a basilica carrying a tower or dome over the crossing, is treated by architectural historians as an early step toward the domed church form that Byzantine architecture later settled on. Reliefs of evangelist symbols and archangels survive over the doorways. The setting does a lot of the work: the terrace drops away sharply and the view down the valley is enormous. It sees very few visitors.

What you actually see

• The eastern church - the carved capitals and the crossing tower.
• The colonnaded walk - the terrace path linking the churches.
• The doorway reliefs - archangels and evangelist symbols.
• The valley view - the Göksu gorge far below.

When to go

April to June and September to November. The altitude keeps it cooler than the coast; winter can bring snow and the track up is then difficult.

Honest expectations

The access track from the highway is steep. The terrace has drops with limited fencing. Facilities are a ticket hut and nothing else. It is a long way from any coastal base.

Nearby

Mut is twenty kilometres down the valley; the road continues north to Karaman and Konya.