Gülşehir St. Jean Church

The rock mass at the entrance to Gülşehir has two storeys. On the lower floor lie a church, wine cellars, tombs, a water channel and rooms for officials; above is a second church decorated with biblical scenes. St. Jean Church, locally Karşı Kilise, carries a Last Judgment scene found in only a few Cappadocian churches.

History

Few single-aisle churches of the 13th century survive in the region, and this is one of them; its iconography, the choice and arrangement of its pictures, sets it apart from its neighbours. Gülşehir lies 20 km from Nevşehir on the south bank of the Kızılırmak, and its ancient name was Zoropassos, its older Turkish one Arapsun. Açıksaray, about 3 km away, was an important bishopric with rock churches of the 9th and 10th centuries.

Architecture

The lower church

The church below is cross-shaped, with one apse and a barrel-vaulted roof. Its central dome has fallen. Ornament consists of geometric shapes and crosses drawn straight onto the bedrock rather than onto plaster.

The upper church

The upper church likewise has one apse and a barrel-vaulted roof. The life of Christ unfolds in frieze bands, horizontal strips of scenes. Plant and geometric motifs were chosen for the niche vaults and the facades. A Deesis, in which Mary and John the Baptist stand in intercession on either side of Christ, fills the apse, while the Gospel is shown on the front.

In the vault, saints appear in medallions. The south arm shows the Last Supper, the Betrayal and the Baptism, and beneath them the Descent from the Cross and the women at the empty tomb.

The Last Judgment

The Last Judgment covers the west and south walls. It is a subject found in only a few churches of the region, and it opens on the right with the weighing of souls. An angel in the middle holds a sceptre in one hand and a pair of scales in the other, flanked by two angels carrying white cloths that stand for souls. Their haloes are light blue and orange, a pairing rarely met in Cappadocia. Facing them, a naked, winged devil hooks the scales with one hand and tugs the cord of the hook with the other, and heads representing souls are shown on both sides of the scales in front of him.

Visiting

Hours and fees can change; check the church page on muze.gov.tr. The MüzeKart is valid for Turkish citizens.