AZIZ NIKOLAOS

What a find - good eyes Dad Dad for seeing the sign and turning around.  And for winding up and through the narrow streets of Gullubahce (Gewl ewe bah chay) and finding this hidden treasure...the remains of a deserted Greek Village and the  partially restored Aziz Nikolaos.  The church was built in 1821 on the ruins of another church, age unknown, in honor of St. Nicholas.  Amazing it has survived being converted into a Mosque.

 

 

 

 

 

The Ostofilak...In many countries with limited burial space, after so many years the remains are dug up and taken to a privately arranged place or, as in the case of Aziz Nikolaos, housed in a separate building on the church property.  The lower part of the building was for the skeletal remains and the upper was a sacred place for prayer.

 

 

 The deserted village was scattered up the hillside from the church and for all the empty buildings, there were those equally as old inhabited.  The new homes built across from the church looked somehow out of place against the cobblestones and tumbling down ruins.

 

 

 

 

 

The views to the Menderes (Meander) River valley went on for miles, full of agriculture.

 

 Gullubahce is the "modern" day Priene, which was our intended destination, but sometimes it pays to go off the beaten track, take the road less traveled, venture away from the popular tourist sites...you just never know what you might find.