Aya Tekla Church

Aya Tekla Church, also known as Aya Thecla or Aya Thekla, is an ancient church in Mersin Province, Turkey, now in ruins. Dedicated to Saint Thecla, it was the a major pilgrimage site in the Byzantine period, and still attracts visitors.

Geography

Aya Tekla Church is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of Silifke (ancient Seleikos or Seleucia) and 85 kilometres (53 mi) from the provincial capital, Mersin; it is 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north of the Datça-Mersin highway which runs parallel to the coast.[1]

Ayathekla1

History

Thecla (Apostle and protomartyr among women) was one of the followers of Saint Paul whose origin was Tarsus about 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the church. According to the main work about her, Acts of Paul and Thecla, she was originally from Konya (ancient Iconion), and after the episodes described in the book she lived around Silifke and died there.[2]

The beginnings of the site are unclear. A site of Thelca's cult near Silifke was visited by Gregory of Nazianzus in 374. Egeria visited in 384, and mentioned numerous monastic cells for men and women, and a central church with an enclosing wall.[3] But the shrine was relocated to a hill, (now called Meryemlik, meaning of Virgin Mary) with a cave which was supposedly Thelca's home in her later years. The grave in the cave supposedly belongs to her.[2]

Up to 312, Thecla's cave was a secret pilgrimage center. At some date a church was built into the cave. Aya Thekla, the more prominent church, was built on the hilltop in 460-470 AD by the Byzantine emperor Zeno the Isaurian. The church and the other related buildings such as bath are now in ruins, the only standing element being a part of the apse.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Silifke governor's page (Turkish)
  2. 1 2 3 Hagia Thekla in Monastic Matrix, Ohio State University
  3. ↑ M. L. McClure, ed. (1919). The Pilgrimage of Egeria. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. pp. 42–43.

Further reading

External linka

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Coordinates: 36°21′46″N 33°55′51″E / 36.36278°N 33.93083°E / 36.36278; 33.93083

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