Sumela Travel Guide

   This amazing and must-see house was constructed in the heart of pure nature. This house is in Trabzon-Macka. Until Ottoman era, it was used as a monastery by the Pontus. It was nestled in a steep cliff at 1200 meters attitudes. Around the house, there is Altindere National Park which is also a touristic attraction due to its pure nature.

The view of Altindere National Park from Sumela Monastery

  Getting the Monastery is not easy, even you come by car. Because, cars can go to a certain point. After that point, visitors have to walk. Nice to say that this road is not too long and when on road, you can have a change to be taken a photo with 1000 years old tree. Also, when on the road, you can take some stunning photos of Sumela and the Park.

   Here is a photo i took when on road to Sumela:





When you reach Sumela, what you see is that there is a Monastery, some buildings and an old man-made elevator used in the past for taking visitors to Sumela from the bottom of the mountain. When at that attitude (1200 meters), you can take real oxygen with eye-feast of fantastic view.

   Entrance to Sumela is 15 liras. It opens from 9:00 to 19:00 in April to October, however opens from 8:00 to 16:00 in November to March. Here are some photos i took:

  

   Coming to transportation to there, there are several ways:

• Going there by your own car  : I strongly recommend you to get there by your own car. First, before going there, you can also visit to Trabzon and Macka, and On the road, you won`t get tired too much. Moreover, you can visit National Park easily by your own car.

• Bus Ticket  : You have to buy at least 3 tickets to get there. First is for coming to Trabzon, then to Macka from Trabzon bus station and to Sumela from Macka bus station.Till you get there, you might get tired due to the changes and you may not get satisfied with your visit to Sumela.

• Travel Agency : It is the easiest, the cheapest and the snuggest way for visiting Sumela. Using most of them is safe due to government control on travel agencies. However, bear in mind that there may be some agencies which could make your visit terrible due to many reasons. Hence, before deciding which agency you use, advised to use the most-preferred one..  

HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR VISIT.....