The emblematic monastery of Sümela, located in the province of Trabzon and considered one of the main tourist attractions in northern Turkey, received 514,596 tourists in 2025, according to the latest official data released by the Turkish authorities. The monastic complex, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List, thus consolidates its attractiveness for historical-cultural, nature and religious tourism.
Carved into a steep cliff at an altitude of about 300 metres overlooking the Altındere Valley in the Maçka district, the Sumela Monastery offers visitors a unique combination of nature, history and culture all year round. Originally built around 386 AD during the reign of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I (375-395 AD), its very origin is shrouded in legend; in the following centuries it was restored and enlarged several times, most notably the reconstruction ordered in the 6th century by General Belisarius and the 14th century reforms undertaken by Emperor Alexios III of Trebizond, which gave it its present appearance.
Access to the valley is by minibus, or on foot along wooded paths; the privileged setting of this corner of Turkey’s Black Sea region allows for other activities such as hiking, mountain biking and photographic safaris. Another place of religious interest is the Church of St. Barbara (Aya Varvara), located at the foot of the valley where the monastery stands.
The Director of Culture and Tourism of Trabzon Province, Tamer Erdoğan, stressed that Sümela is one of the most important tourist destinations in Türkiye. “Sümela Monastery has undergone an extensive restoration process in previous years. After the completion of the restoration work, there was a great deal of interest in the monastery, and the number of visitors has been increasing exponentially every year,” he said, according to Turkish broadcaster TRTHaber.
The regional tourism official said that the number of tourists visiting the Byzantine monastery of Sümela in 2025 is an all-time record since its opening to the public, representing an increase of 16% over the previous year. Erdoğan also took the opportunity to announce the start of the process to have Sümela finally recognised as a World Heritage Site: “We expect the number of visitors to increase even more when the monastery is definitively included in the UNESCO list,” he concluded.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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