CNN retains full editorial control over subject matter, reporting and frequency of the articles and videos within the sponsorship, in compliance with our policyCNN —If its ancient walls could talk, Sümela Monastery in eastern Turkey would have quite a few stories to tell. “The Virgin Mary is a holy person for the Muslim people also. “The sultans considered Sümela a sacred place and helped the monastery by giving the monks donations and more land,” he adds. Sümela was popular with Christian and Muslim pilgrims, and an active Greek Orthodox monastery, until the early 20th century. Many of the Greeks living in the Pontic Alps and nearby Black Sea coast chose to relocate to Greece, including the monks of Sümela Monastery.

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