Marcello SCALZO / Claudio GIUSTINIANI
(Dipartimento di Architettura, Firenze)
Keywords: Rupestrian, Church, Cappadocia, Digital survey, Multimedia
Abstract:
Meryem Ana Kilisesi (Kılıçlar Kuşluk) is a rupestrian church in the Göreme Valley. The director Pierpaolo Pasolini contributed to make it famous, shooting some scenes of his movie “Medea” (starring Maria Callas) inside the church. The church is in one of the typical calcareous cones that characterize the Göreme Valley; the narrow path leading to the church is contained in a ground fracture. The path crosses some rupestrian ambiences with ruined fronts, and then reaches the plan space which contains the entrance of the Church. The entrance is characterized by the typical horseshoe arc, which was once frescoed. Between the 13th and the 14th centuries, the floor plan of the church was very particular: while the floor was a unique room, the ceiling was divided into two barrel vaults. The bema was elevated through three stairs, and it was separated through a carved iconostasis with six arches and five columns. Only two of the three original apses are preserved. The internal walls were completely painted. A funerary parecclesion (with at least seven ground tombs) beside the church is now in communication with the church through non original openings. The study of Meryem Ana Kilisesi included the digital survey of the site through Laser Scanner, FARO etc. The point cloud was studied in order to verify and identify the original structure; some reconstructive hypotheses have been drawn, to highlight the original structure. The digital survey of September 2012 constitutes a useful support to monitor the cracks condition, which is by now very serious. The survey has been implemented with 360° pictures, which have been treated with software as PTgui and Pano2VR, to obtain views for virtual tours.