Francesca RAFANELLI
(Scuola di Architettura, Università degli studi di Firenze, Italy)

Keywords: Cappadocia, Turkey, Rupestrian, Digital survey, Representation

Abstract:
The complex of the church of St Daniel, has been excavated in the same massif as Tokali Kilise, it is in itself a little known settlement, on which there are no major studies or assumptions. The complex consists of two pinnacles, one more than 40 meters high and a second lower one. At the base of the highest peak there are various secondary rooms, with multiple entrances, probably realized in time and intended for storing food reserves or other goods and even animal shelters. It is worth noting the presence of tunnels connecting such rooms with shelters at high altitude, the highest was to be occupied by a hermit’s cell, a feature intended to facilitate the transit of persons to and from the warehouses or, more likely, to be interpreted as a defensive solution. The small size of these links in fact, prevented large numbers of people from passing through them; in addition, the shape of the tunnel itself made it necessary for invaders to proceed one at a time, creating a better chance of success for the monk in the event of an offensive. Nearby these locations there is a chapel dedicated to St Daniel. The presence of mural paintings in both the chapels, create a quite interesting condition where it is possible to see different decorative solutions, from the classical “red” paintings of the aniconic graphic to more rich and colorful representations. Such an articulated architecture, near to organic shapes, can be hardly described using traditional survey solution. The digital survey of the whole church, operated using 3D laser scanner technologies by a team from the “Dipartimento di Architettura di Firenze” in 2013, was the base to develop a specific reading of the whole church and refuges system, and to create drawings to be used by visitors and scholars for easy understanding of the richness of this particular and very representative settlement.