Church and fortress under construction in Cilician Armenia

The Black Church and a fortress in Feke, a small city in Turkey’s Adana province, are is now being reconstructed, the Turkish Milliyet reports, adding that the local authorities plan to complete the work by the end of 2014

A district governor, Hasan Gezer, is quoted as saying that they intend to make the placeb an important tourist attraction after the development that lasted two years.

“A great number of visitors from different corners of Turkey have been coming here over the past years to see the church and the fortress. There will be more if there are places to host them here,” he said.

Adem Yildiz, an archaeologist participating in the development work, has admitted that the fortress, built in the 1000s, is on the territory of Cilician Armenia.

“It’s a two-storey construction. A major difficulty here is that visitors have no place to stay at. Next to the fortress, the Black Church, which was connected with the 14 other churches, is under re-construction. Other fortresses too, are being reconstructed,” he said.