Members of the Tahirler Project first visited the “Kirmir River Caves” on
the north side of the Kirmir River near Kayabuku in 1998. During 2001
season, we mapped also this cave complex and began photography of the
badly-faded, but still beautiful, fresco cycle contained in the “chapel
room” on its main floor. The attached
map
shows the architectural layout of this complex that contains approximately
fifteen rooms (depending how one counts), extending across three levels.
The main level has two long exterior porches on its eastern and southern
sides. The eastern porch overlooks the path of the Roman/Byzantine highway,
where the road descended to cross the Kirmir River. Inside the complex,
the chapel room has a window apse and light well on its eastern end, and
the remains of a Byzantine fresco cycle of standing saints on both its
northern and southern walls. I am currently seeking a Byzantine art
historian or graduate student qualified to assist with the publication of
these frescoes. Further photography and on-site examination will probably
be needed for this publication. Survey of the slopes and fields beneath the
complex produced only very small quantities of pottery, though at least one
piece of green-glaze ware recalls very similar sherds found at the Kilisiler
Cave complex. The Tahirler Project’s ceramic expert, Dr. Daniela Cottica,
will study these sherds during our proposed museum work in September, 2002.
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