--KAPAK ARAÞTIRMA kopya 1 - Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı

The wall and the ditch cut off Selime’s jutting tip from the rest of the plateau. No
structures have been found behind the wall. Temporary encampments, however, may
have stood within. A deep rectangular cistern, also carved out of the plateau, is the only
feature located behind the wall. Perhaps this area functioned as a type of military installation,
providing a stationing point during military campaigns where local contingents,
the so-called "farmer soldiers," could have been mustered from the fertile river valley
below 9. Moreover, a sentry standing here could guard not only the entrance into the
valley but also the entire region as well. The wall extends along the direct line of sight
of two other major fortifications in the region: Akhisar (about fifteen kilometers to the
northwest) and Sivrihisar (about ten kilometers to the southeast) 10. Byzantine military
treatises testify that mutual visibility among fortifications determined the success of
campaigns, relying on a system of fire and smoke signals to warn of oncoming raids 11.
Selime Kalesi
Using a fixed point on the plateau, we established the level of the valley floor and
the position of Selime Kalesi along the rock cliff. The Selime Kalesi complex relates to
the fortification. They are similar in scale and planning and together form a type of
Byzantine kastro, or castle site, which is important for our understanding of Cappadocia
as a frontier zone occupied by powerful magnate families of the tenth to eleventh
centuries AD (Fig. 6, 7) 12. Selime Kalesi is the largest and most elaborate complex in
design and decoration of all the examples recorded not only from Selime-Yaprakhisar
but also from all of Cappadocia as well (Fig. 8) 13. Its two courtyards and two ceremonial
halls, kitchen and basilica church spread out 100 meters horizontally along the rock
cliff and occupy 3,000 square meters of space within the rock. In addition to its large
scale and elaborate design, this structure holds the most prominent position in the
landscape. It is carved about 100 meters below the fortification and 50 meters above
the valley floor. From high on the cliff, all of the other dwellings of the settlement can be
surveyed while the opening of the valley could be guarded. The precarious position of
this structure above a severely undercut area of the cliff, in fact, threatens its very survival.
According to one geological engineer, the entire cliff will collapse within our lifetime
14. Cracks throughout the complex have already appeared. Our work, therefore, not
only provides significant documentation for the history of medieval architecture but also
records an important monument about to be lost.
Arranged around two courtyards, the rooms of Selime Kalesi display a clear separation
of distinct spheres of activities, from utilitarian to formal. Rooms reserved for household
work and production are arranged around the first courtyard (1), while rooms for
ceremonial activity are arranged around the second courtyard (32). This kind of layout
is seen consistently throughout the dwellings. It points to the elite status of the complexes’
inhabitants and to the underlying social hierarchy of medieval secular society.
At Selime, a tunnel near the level of the valley floor leads the visitor up through
the living rock onto the complex’s first courtyard (1). Hall One (12) is located at the
apex of the courtyard. Along the other side of the courtyard across from the hall is a
large kitchen (2). The second courtyard (32), on the other hand, provides access to the
9 J. Haldon, "Military Service, Military Lands and the Status of Soldiers: Current Problems and Interpretations. " Dumbarton
Oaks Papers 47 (1993) 1-68.
10 For the historical topography of the region see F. Hild and M. Restle, Kappadokien (Vienna, 1981) 254-270
11 P. Pattenden, "The Byzantine Early Warning System." Byzantion 53 (1983) 258-299.
12 There are no exact parallels to this type of layout; for Byzantine fortifications in general, see C. Foss, Byzantine Fortifications:
An Introduction (Pretoria, 1986), and S. Curcic and E. Hadjitryphonos. Secular Medieval Architecture in the
Balkans 1300-1500 and its Preservation (Thessaloniki, 1997).
13 This complex was first recorded in sketch-plan by L. Rodley, Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia (Cambridge,
1985) fig. 13.
14 A. Binal, "Investigation of the Instability Mechanisms Observed in Volcanosedimentary Rocks at Aksaray-Ihlara Valley,"
(MA Thesis, Hacetteppe University, Ankara, 1996).
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