Gümüşler Monastery is a Byzantine-era cave monastery in the town of Gümüşler, Niğde Province, Turkey.
The monastery is carved out of a large rock and is one of the best preserved and largest of its kind in the Cappadocia region. There are quite a few monasteries hewn out of the rock in Cappadocia and some scholars split these into two types: those with dining halls and those with open courtyards. The Gümüşler Monastery is part of the second group.
The most important part of the monastery complex is the church to its north. The church comprises four freestanding closed aisles based on the Greek cross plan; in the northern aisle of the cross there is a niche with two tombs. To the west there are two entrances covered with a cradle vault.
The monastery is carved out of a large rock and is one of the best preserved and largest of its kind in the Cappadocia region. There are quite a few monasteries hewn out of the rock in Cappadocia and some scholars split these into two types: those with dining halls and those with open courtyards. The Gümüşler Monastery is part of the second group.
The most important part of the monastery complex is the church to its north. The church comprises four freestanding closed aisles based on the Greek cross plan; in the northern aisle of the cross there is a niche with two tombs. To the west there are two entrances covered with a cradle vault.
Source: Gümüşler Monastery - Wikipedia