Pictures to tell the story…

I love stories. I heard Bible stories when I was in school. A van would arrive near school on a Saturday afternoon with media equipment (only megaphones those days) and two or three preachers. They narrated one or two stories from the Bible each week. I used to listen to the stories with rapt attention. I also subscribed for Christian Science Monitor and loved to read the stories from the magazine.
As I grew up, I have visited a few churches and museums in Rome, Vatican City, Venice and Florence during my travels. Wieskirche( White Church) in Bavaria near Munich is one of my favourites. It is a pilgrimage site.
During my visits, I observed that the same stories from the Bible appear in different formats and different media. Sistine Chapel in Vatican city is famous for Renaissance Art, and the ceiling has several frescoes by Michelangelo. The Cathedral of John Divine in Amsterdam Avenue in New York has stories etched in glass panels.
My daughter and I visited Cappadocia in Turkey last month. Cappadocia, a semi-arid region in central Turkey, is known for its “fairy chimneys,” tall, cone-shaped rock formations clustered in Monks Valley, Göreme and elsewhere. These rock formations date back to 2.5 million years. Wind and water have eroded the softer rocks leaving behind hardtops, and Bronze Age dwellers made homes out of these rocks. These caves became homes to Christians later during Roman rule who were on their run to save themselves from the persecution of Romans. Some of the caves became churches, and it is a magnificent sight to see these rock formations.
It snowed the day we arrived, and these ‘fairy chimneys’ were a grand sight to behold the snow-capped cones.
The Göreme Open Air Museum, which was built by Kayseri pontiff St. Basil in the 4th century as a religious education and meditation centre, included churches built within rocks, chapels, dining halls and sitting areas to cater to a Monastry system of education.
While there are several churches in the Goreme valley, I would like specifically to talk about Apple Church. No one is sure how this Church got this name. There is a painting of Jesus Christ in the Church with an apple in the right hand. There is a possibility that this Church was amid Apple orchards. This Church is also known as Elmali church. One gets to see the stories of the Bible through these beautiful paintings inside the cave. Some of the pictures include Baptism of Christ, The Annunciation, Entry into Jerusalem, Raising of Lazarus, Crucifixion, Betrayal of Judas, to name a few.
The above frescoes are crisp and very beautiful though not arranged in a narrative sequence. All the paintings look independent. The painter seems to have difficulty in filling the curved spaces inside the Church. It seems the painter has not talked to the architect when one looks at the effort of the painter. The images are apparent and legible through the pictures date back to the Byzantine period. These paintings look like picture frames hanging out. Each portrait is very detailed and densely filled. All the details are to the proportions and correct aspect ratios, and there is perfect harmony among the subjects in each picture. Even the clothing of the people is very impressive. The central dome has the Pantocrator, the Jesus, who sits enthroned in Heaven surrounded by Mathew, Mark, John and Luke on four sides. It seems these frescoes were used by Missionaries to teach Bible to early settlers in Cuppodocia who did not know the languages.
I looked up on Google for the paintings from the Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci, who painted the same themes. The frescoes of Apple church are no way inferior in terms of richness and details.
A memorable visit!