It is believed that the church was built between 365-395 AD. The rules of Cappadocia churches, which are frequently encountered in Anatolia, were made; in fact, there is a similar cave church in the Maşatlık area of ​​Trabzon. Little can be said about the thousand-year period between the first foundation of the church and its conversion into a monastery. According to a legend told among the Black Sea Greeks, two monks named Barnabas and Sophronios of Athens had the same dream; in their dreams, they saw the place of Sumela where the icon was located, out of the three Panagia icons made by Saint Luke in the children of Jesus. Thereupon, unaware of the events, they came to Trabzon by sea, met there, told each other about their dreams and thought that the first church could be built. However, the fact that it is widely present in the frescoes in the monastery makes it thought that Emperor Alexios III of Trebizond, who is given special importance, is the real founder of the monastery.

we start our visit to the tea factory, which is very important for the regional economy since tea production is only done in the Black Sea region in Turkey. Here, we get information about the adventure of tea leaves from gardens to cups and have the opportunity to try different types of tea.

Afterwards, we stop by a sales office where we can taste and buy different kinds of Turkish delight, chocolate, coffee and aromatic teas.

When we reach Uzungöl, we first go up to the Observation Terrace and take our photos while watching the view of Uzungöl.

After visiting the Observation Terrace, we give you about 2 hours of free time by the lake. During this time, you can walk around Uzungöl or visit the Dursun Ali İnan Museum. At the end of our free time, we start our return journey.

On the way back, we take a 10-minute photo break at the Historical Tiled Bridge, which was built in 1935. Depending on the season and traffic conditions, we will arrive in Trabzon between 18:00 and 19:00 in the evening.