Çarıklı Church is located within the Göreme Open-Air Museum, a monastic complex situated in the Göreme Valley near Ürgüp district, approximately 10 kilometers from the city center of Nevşehir, Türkiye. The church is carved into the natural rock on the southern slope of the museum area. The entrance, positioned about five meters above the monastic courtyard, is accessed via a later-added iron staircase. It is believed that the church was constructed under the patronage of the Melissenos family.
Çarıklı Church (Türkiye Kültür Portalı)
Architectural Features
The church follows a closed Greek-cross plan and includes two freestanding columns, four domes, three apses, and intersecting barrel vaults. Other structural supports are located as piers in the corners of the walls. Excluding the western arm of the cross and the apses, the naos has an irregular trapezoidal shape. The central space, supported by two columns, is irregularly square, while the eastern arm of the cross is covered by a slightly elliptical dome. The other arms are covered with barrel vaults, and the northeast and southeast corner spaces are domed. The naos ends in three apses on the eastern side, with the central apse being larger and higher than the lateral ones. The entrance is on the north wall of the naos and opens into the northern arm of the cross.
Fresco Program and Iconography
The church features figural wall paintings with scenes from the life and miracles of Jesus Christ, depictions of Church Fathers, saints, female saints, archangels, Emperor Constantine, his mother Helena, and donors. Among the Christological scenes depicted are the Deesis, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Baptism, Raising of Lazarus, Transfiguration, Entry into Jerusalem, Betrayal, Christ Bearing the Cross, Crucifixion, Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Empty Tomb, Ascension, and Anastasis. Additionally, the Old Testament scene of the Hospitality of Abraham (Three Angels at Mamre) is also illustrated.
Fresco Layout
The central dome contains a medallion with a Pantokrator Christ figure, surrounded by busts of angels—Michael, Uriel, Misrael, Raphael, and Gabriel. The pendentives feature the four Evangelists. The main apse includes the Deesis scene, while the north apse shows the Virgin Eleousa and Child, and the south apse depicts Archangel Michael. The Nativity is located on the west arm of the cross; the Adoration of the Magi in the northern part of the western vault; the Baptism in the pediment of the northeast corner; the Transfiguration on the western vault; the Entry into Jerusalem and Betrayal on the vault of the northern arm; the Crucifixion on the northern wall pediment of the northern arm; the Anastasis on the south wall of the southeast corner; and the Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Tomb in the eastern pediment of the same corner. The Ascension is painted on the vault of the southern arm.
Depictions of Saints and Donors
Beneath the Deesis scene on the wall of the main apse, a row of Church Fathers is depicted: Saint Hypatios, Saint Nicholas, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianzus, Saint Blaise, and Saint Basil. On the south wall of the west arm, Saints George and Theodore are painted; on the north wall, Saint Procopius of Scythopolis. On the lower part of the north wall of the northeast corner, Saints Cosmas and Damian, Christian physician saints, are illustrated. The arch surfaces in the same area show Saints Provos, Tarachos, and Andronikos. Among female saints, Saint Barbara and Saint Eudokia appear on the west wall of the northern arm; an anonymous female saint and Saint Paraskeve on the north wall of the same arm. On the west wall of the south arm, Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena are portrayed.
The donors Theognostos, Leontios, and Michael are depicted on the west wall of the west arm, beneath the Nativity scene. Their identities are confirmed through accompanying inscriptions, and they are known to have belonged to the Melissenos family and supported the Phokas imperial dynasty.
