The Çeşmeli church, properly the Armenian church of Surp Asvadzadzin, stands in the Tapucak quarter of Karaman. Tapucak is one of the oldest quarters of the town and, before the First World War and the population exchange, was where Armenians and Greeks lived alongside Turks in large numbers. Within the same area you can see the Çeşmeli church of Byzantine architecture, the Yeni Hamam of Ottoman architecture, the Araboglu Mosque of Karamanid architecture, and historic Turkish, Armenian and Greek houses together.
The church is an example of the small basilicas found at Binbirkilise on Karadağ: a longitudinal building of three aisles, built of cut stone, belonging to the Byzantine period. After the republican period it was used as a prison until the 1980s, with additions made inside in such a way as not to disturb the exterior architecture. It was later assigned to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and restored in 2007. Since the restoration it has been used for exhibitions, meetings, concerts and other artistic events, and it is open to visitors.
Getting there
- Access
- In the Tapucak quarter of central Karaman, reached by the city minibuses and municipal buses.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Karaman as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 0.7 °C in January to 23.5 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in December (47 mm) and lightest in August (6 mm). Long-term means for 1951-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
