The Many Lives of a the “Cezaevi-kilise” of Nevşehir 

In 1923, the exchange of population between Greece and Turkey ended the Greek-Orthodox (Rum) presence in most parts of Anatolia. In the region of Cappadocia, the Rums (who were mostly Kamaranlis, i.e., Turkish-speakers) had numerous communities which had prospered economically from the mid-nineteenth century mostly thanks to migration movements towards big cities, Istanbul ahead, and philanthropic activities. In that context, these communities built new, huge churches, which remained without faithful after 1923. In the first republican decades, some of them were converted into mosques, others destroyed or simply abandoned. Many were desecrated and turned into stables, warehouses, or factories. Among these churches, the Meryem Ana Kilisesi built in 1848 and located in the town of Nevşehir has experienced a particular fate. Transformed into a prison in 1953, it became the place of incarceration of numerous political prisoners such as Yilmaz Güney who stayed there for one year. In 1973, this “Cezaevi-kilise”, as locals used to call it, even became a film set for the movie Mahpus narrating the story of an imprisoned woman. After the closing of the prison in 1983, the building was abandoned but is still sometimes used as a shooting place for movies and TV series. It is also one of the last monuments that has not borne the cost of the urban transformation, which affects the former Rum districts of the town.

This paper will follow the different lives of the Meryem Ana church of Nevşehir from its construction in the late Ottoman period up to now, including its transformation into a carceral place, but also more recent developments, that have turned it into anew symbol of the local Christian heritage and have led to contestations against its degradation and calls for its preservation.