Gülşehir

Gülşehir

Gülşehir is a district of Nevşehir province. Located 20 km away from Nevşehir, on the southern edge of Kızılırmak, the ancient name of the district is Zoropassos and its old name is Arapsun. Another Ottoman Grand Vizier, Black Vizier Mehmet Seyyid Pasha, also built the construction works that Damat İbrahim Pasha had done in Nevşehir, in Gülşehir, and equipped Gülşehir, which has 30 houses, with a social complex. The social complex consists of a mosque, madrasah and fountain. Açıksaray ruins, 3 km away from Gülşehir, was an important episcopal center with its numerous places carved into tuff rocks, Roman Period rock tombs, and rock churches dating back to the 9th and 10th centuries. The mihrab of the place, popularly called Hacı Bektaş Veli Masjid, attracts attention as it is an Islamic structure that has been preserved until today. There are high niches in the western part of the mosque, which has a square plan. The two-storey St. Jean Church, located right at the entrance of Gülşehir, has a church, wine cellars, tombs, water channels and servants' rooms on the lower floor, and another church decorated with scenes from the Bible on the upper floor. The church on the lower floor has a single apse, a cruciform plan, cross arms and a barrel vault. Its central dome collapsed. In terms of decoration, stylized animal, geometric and cross depictions are painted with red rebel paint directly on the main rock. The church on the upper floor has a single apse and barrel vault. The church, which was very well preserved except for the paintings in the main apse, was covered with a layer of black soot. The church became what it is today after its restoration and conservation was carried out by restorer Rıdvan İşler in 1995.