My wife Jan and I visited the church in 1992 while we lived in Ankara. It was a very interesting visit since it was on Christmas day. We were the only visitors at the time and were able to investigate every nook and cranny that had been cleared from the silt that had covered it for so long. We went to the inside front area and sang a couple of Christmas carols. It was a very exciting and enjoyable experience for us and we recommended it to our friends in Ankara.

We had driven there as part of our exploration of that part of coastal Turkiye. There was no entrance fee or any attendants, or explanations of any sort. Fortunately my Turkish was sufficient for the conversations we had with

local citizens. The statue in the nearby garden was of St. Nicholas, although I understand that it has unfortunately been replaced by a statue of Santa.

Were we able to repeat the trip in the future it would be very interesting to see how much progress has been done. At a minimum we are still recommending it to our friends.