Santa Ruins: Stone Hamlets in the Clouds

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1. What are the Santa Ruins?
2. How do you get to the Santa Ruins?
3. When is the best time to visit the Santa Ruins?
4. What is the history of the Santa Ruins?
5. What are the Santa Ruins famous for?
6. What can you see at the Santa Ruins?
7. Frequently asked questions about the Santa Ruins
8. What do the official records say about the Santa Ruins?

What are the Santa Ruins?

Santa (Santa Harabeleri) is a group of nine stone hamlets high in the mountains of north-eastern Gümüşhane, in the area of today’s Dumanlı village. They were built by a Greek-speaking Christian community, and the 2002 inventory counts more than 300 buildings: houses, churches, schools and chapels scattered over the green slopes and ridges, with the forest below and bare pastures above.

The houses are roofless and the churches empty, but the stonework is still impressive, and the setting, often wrapped in cloud that rolls up from the Black Sea valleys, is one of the most atmospheric in north-eastern Türkiye.

How do you get to the Santa Ruins?

Santa lies in the Yağmurdere area of Gümüşhane’s central district; the 2002 inventory gave the distance from the city as 90 km. The roads are mountain roads, narrow and in places unpaved, and are blocked by snow for much of the year. In summer the trip is best done by car, ideally with good ground clearance, or with a local driver. Check road conditions in Gümüşhane before setting out.

The nearest airport is Trabzon. Gümüşhane city is the most convenient base; allow a full day for the round trip and the walk between the hamlets.

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When is the best time to visit the Santa Ruins?

July to September, when the roads are open and the pastures green. Fog is common in the afternoons, so start early for the clearest views. At this altitude the weather changes quickly even in summer, and from autumn to spring snow can cut the area off completely.

What is the history of the Santa Ruins?

The settlement is thought to have been founded in the 17th century. Its people were Greek Orthodox, part of the Pontic Greek communities that lived throughout the mountains between Trabzon and Gümüşhane, and they built their hamlets of local stone, each with its own church. Most of the churches that survive were built or rebuilt in the 1870s in a Byzantine style: the inventory dates both the Cınganlı and the İş Hanlı churches to around 1870, the latter with a basilica plan.

Like the other Greek communities of the region, the people of Santa left in the population exchange between Greece and Türkiye in the 1920s, and the hamlets were abandoned. In the following decades they suffered badly: the 2002 inventory records heavy damage by antiquities smugglers, and notes that many historic objects taken from the site are known to have been smuggled abroad.

What are the Santa Ruins famous for?

• The landscape: stone ruins across open mountain slopes, often in cloud.
• The churches of the 1870s, the largest buildings in the hamlets.
• The Pontic Greek past of the mountains between Trabzon and Gümüşhane.

What can you see at the Santa Ruins?

The hamlets. Nine separate quarters (mahalle), each a cluster of stone houses spread across the slopes. Walking between them is part of the experience.

Cınganlı Church. On Santa Yaylası, thought to date from around 1870, built in the last quarter of the 19th century in the Byzantine style.

İş Hanlı Church. Also from about 1870, in the Byzantine manner with a basilica plan.

Çakallı and Terzili churches. Two more of Santa’s churches, listed by the inventory among the churches of Gümüşhane.

Houses and schools. Thick stone walls, doorways and window frames, and the shells of larger buildings that served the community.

Practical tips. There are no facilities at the ruins: bring food, water and warm, waterproof clothing. Walls are unstable, so do not climb on them, and keep clear of damaged interiors. Remember that removing anything from the site is illegal.

More Greek churches of Gümüşhane. Santa is the most dramatic, but not the only, trace of the province’s Christian past. The 2002 inventory lists many more churches, among them the monastery churches of Hagios Georgios, Panagia (Meryemana) and Hagios Ioannes, the Vank church and the rock church of Çakırkaya (Kalur). The most important is at Olucak, the old Imera, 15 km from Gümüşhane city: a domed, cross-plan monastery church whose inscription gives the date 1350, at what the inventory calls the most important religious centre of the region, with the remains of many churches. Most of these sites are ruined and unsigned, so ask in Gümüşhane before setting out.

Frequently asked questions about the Santa Ruins

What do the official records say about the Santa Ruins?

It is within the boundaries of the Yağmurdere sub-district and lies 90 km from the central district. The settlement is thought to have been founded in the 17th century. The Santa settlement consists of nine quarters and more than 300 buildings. It has suffered very heavy destruction at the hands of antiquities smugglers. It is known that many historic objects removed from the settlement have been smuggled abroad.

Santa Cınganlı Church is on Santa Yaylası in the Yağmurdere sub-district of the central district. It is thought to have been built in 1870. The building was constructed in the last quarter of the 19th century according to the Byzantine architectural style. Santa İş Hanlı Church, also in the Yağmurdere sub-district, was built in 1870 according to Byzantine-period architecture, and its plan is basilical. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Gümüşhane Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)