Sumela Monestary Rockfall Mitigation

The Sumela Monastery in the Trabzon Province of Turkey dates to about 386 AD. This iconic building of great historical and cultural significance was founded by Greek Orthodox monks but has been an object of pilgrimages for Christians and Muslims and is now managed by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The site was closed to tourists in 2015 after a series of severe rockfall events.

I came across a neat case study of the rockfall mitigation on the Maccaferri website. The monastery is perched on a steep cliff approximately 300 m high at an altitude of about 1,200 m. The mitigation was designed by Maccaferri and installed by the Karacan Group. It consisted of 5 lines of 3,000 kJ dynamic rockfall barriers and an 8,500 kJ rockfall barrier right above the monastery. Adjacent to the barriers, the slope was draped with Maccaferri HEA panels and double-twist mesh. The construction was reported to be very challenging given the sensitive nature of the structure, as small rockfall events during installation could damage the monastery they were trying to protect. Completed in 2021, all work was done by hand with professional climbers, and I’m guessing helicopters as well.