Roman aqueduct over St Anne’s valley [Yeşildere]
image courtesy of Edward de Jongh
A series of the unmarked photos of Brian de Jongh (possibly inherited from an earlier generation) showing a pastoral scene in the neighbourhood of Yeşildere, viewed from the little Paradise [Kızılçullu] end, with the city centre being about 2 km away.
The same valley viewed slightly higher up, showing an enclosed building, possibly a church / monastery. This appears to be ‘the Church of Prophet Elia’ as indicated by the postcard view below.
image courtesy of Andrew Simes
The remains of this church standing today in a military zone, photographed 2008 - alternative views - click here for views of other former Orthodox churches of the city.
image courtesy of Andrew Simes, 2013
The same building being encroached by a road widening scheme in June 2013, putting its future in danger.
The scene today is totally altered, the nearby road is now a major through road to the airport and beyond, the valley is now a closed military zone enclosing the ruined Greek church, the aqueduct is mostly intact and the hillsides are mostly covered in shanty dwellings. The Levantine / Greek names indicated for these locations would not be known by any of the present locals. Another close view taken by the prolific local photographer, Rubellin is viewable below
A rear view of the same aqueduct in a postcard showing a floor mill, possibly a Levantine venture utilising the water power here. Below a postcard view of the upper set of aqueducts at Kızılçullu, still standing today, in a slightly worse condition, next to the grounds of a Nato ‘motor pool’, formerly the International College grounds.
image courtesy of Edward de Jongh
The same aqueduct from the Brian de Jongh collection.