Exploring Adana is like entering a treasure trove! There are treasures to discover around each corner! The other day we found a few such sites as we walked around an older section of the city.

Our first stop was the old catholic church, St.Paul’s. This church is also known as the Church of the Babe (Bebekli Kilise), because from a distance the figurine of Mary atop the roof looks like it might be a child. Within the walls is found a mix of old and new art work. There are also books to help people understand the importance of religion held by the patrons of the building for such a long time.

The interior and exterior are very pretty and were originally built in 1870, at the heart of the old part of town, called çarşı.

Next we visited an old Armenian church site which has been turned into a cultural museum. Through photos, descriptions, and life size figurines, we saw what a typical day during the Ottoman period would have looked like. Our guide walked us through each room in the museum, set up like a traditional Ottoman home. In the kitchen she explained to us how food was prepared. In the bedroom she explained facts about home life as well as what would have been given as wedding gifts and about some ceremonial practices. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and able to answer our questions about various things along the way. The third room was a type of work room where a loom was set up to make a large tapestry. Fourthly, there was a sitting room where men were depicted lounging about, as they would have drunk tea together and discussed things like politics and work.

The church building itself was empty of decorations besides large canvas photos of locations around Adana placed against the walls, and the rows of chairs set up in the one large room. Modern lights have been introduced to the building but the guide turned them off for us so we could see the light more clearly streaming in from the many windows. The outside architecture was simple and elegant at the same time.

We had lunch at a nearby restaurant, which offered their specialty of gözleme, a thin, quesadilla-like grilled dish, which was quite tasty, and I would not mind going back to at all.

We continued exploring into the oldest section of town. It is built on a ‘tel’ which is what archeologists call a place where people have lived over long periods of time and rebuilt new houses or buildings on top of the knocked down older buildings. This causes the land built upon to rise over time, into a ‘tel.’ It was cool to see older structures and their architecture, some from the Ottoman period.

Even just walking down a few streets in Adana brought us inspiration and information from stories and sights we would not have experienced had we not explored Adana to see some of the many joys the city offers.

Written By: Serena Swords

Photography By: Hannah Greer and Serena Swords

First published on west2east.org