Kılıçlar Kilisesi

This was my favorite church of the many we visited during the two week Cappadocia in Context program. Robert Ousterhout described the faces as having a very sweet quality, which I think is accurate. They’re like serene cartoons. Judith Cave (it’s destiny) wrote a dissertation on the church in 1984 — The Byzantine wall paintings of Kiliçlar Kilise: aspects of monumental decoration in Cappadocia — but I haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy through ILL.

When we visited, the building had been closed for almost five years after a restoration project was begun and abandoned. The wooden scaffolding was still up, however, so I was able to get incredibly close to the ceiling paintings. Unfortunately it was too tight to get the establishing shots necessary for a good photosynth. For the sake of conservation I didn’t want to use a flash, so most of the photos are too dark to be usable. A few turned out pretty well, though.

Church of the Three Crosses

Check out the rest of the set.

And the synth:

Çavuşin Kilisesi

Here’s a synth of Çavuşin Kilisesi. These were taken without a flash, so there’s a lot of noise as a byproduct of the editing necessary to reveal more than shadowy despair. Also, I forgot to set the white balance, so my camera randomly decided that the interior of the church merited at least six different white balance settings. Live and learn. Also, check out some of the individual photos over on flickr.