Guide
Aya Elenia is a Byzantine church in Sille, and the inscription over its door carries the claim that gives the building its reputation: that it was built in 327 by Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, during her journey to Jerusalem, and repaired under Mahmud II and Abdülmecid. The municipality goes further, citing the Turkologist Ali Canip Olgunlu's book 'Karadaki Yelkenli Ayasofya' for the claim that, having stood without interruption since 327, it is the oldest surviving church in the world.
The plan is a closed Greek cross on four free-standing supports, with a narthex at the west end and stairs leading up to the galleries.
What is worth the visit, beyond the architecture, is the woodwork: the iconostasis, the ambo, the bishop's throne and the ciborium. The walls are also richly frescoed.
One later chapter is easy to miss: during the First World War the building served as Türkiye's first orthopaedic hospital.
