ICCROM Mora Samples Collection
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Göreme: MRA-TUR-Gor010

Type Sample Item

Sample ID

MRA-TUR-Gor010

Sample Material Type

Mural painting

Sample Sub-type

cross section
fragment
micro-fragment

Dimensions (cm)

Length
0.8
Width
0.6
Height
0.3
Notes
(the fragment)

Weight

weight value (g)
0.17
Notes
(the fragment)

Other info about sample identity

Old ID Ref.: TUR/R/1c; TUR/R/1-c; TUR/R1/cc/2004 (cross section)

Geographic Location

Country
Turkey
Place
Göreme- Elmali Church
Detailed location not available
no

Site/monument

Turkey (TUR)
Göreme
Elmali Church

Historical note about the site/monument

Elmali Church dates to around 1050 and is among the smaller cave churches in the Göreme Valley. Its domed ceiling is supported by four pillars, and both the walls and ceilings are ornamented with mural paintings. Restoration was undertaken in the 1990s to stabilize and clean the most recent frescoes, which present images of important church figures and a scene of the Last Supper. In regions where the frescoes have suffered losses, it was revealed that the murals currently visible cover an earlier cycle of paintings. This underlying decorative program seems to consist in geometric ornament painted directly onto the rock walls of the cave.

 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churches_of_Göreme

http://www.goreme.org/churches/elmali/index.htm

 

Further reading:

Bowen, R. (1990). The future of the past at Göreme in Turkey. Environmental Geology and Water Sciences16(1), 35-41.

Bowen, R. (1987). Geology and the conservation of antique monuments in Turkey. Environmental Geology and Water Sciences9(2), 71-84.

 

Date of sampling

Unknown
Yes

Other related archival documents

There is a photograph of sample TUR/N/2 in the thesis by Angela Russo (2004–2005), preserved in the © ICCROM Archives. In this thesis, the sample is identified as E5 (Fig. 8, p. 24). The thesis also provides an optical microscopy (OM) description of the cross-section and the analyses carried out on p. 45 (Fig. 26), p. 49, and p. 83.

Related samples

MRA-TUR-Gor006 to MRA-TUR-Gor013

Support

Good (sample can be handled)

Finishing Layers

Good (sample can be handled)

Inventory