1 km southeast of Mesudiye · 5th-10th c.
Rising abruptly from the Karaman Plain, Karadağ — a dormant volcano with the Mahalaç peak at 2,288 m — hosts one of Anatolia's most important early Christian archaeological complexes: Binbir Kilise, "The Thousand and One Churches", with 50+ ruins of churches, monasteries, and ancillary buildings dating from the 5th to 10th centuries.
Karadağ ("Black Mountain") is a dormant shield volcano in the Karapınar volcanic field, covering roughly 600 km². Its highest point, Mahalaç (2,288 m), sits beside the Uluçukur caldera — 1.5-2 km in diameter and approximately 150 m deep. A past lava plug caused pressurised magma to erupt explosively; the strongest pyroclastic flows occurred on the mountain's northern slopes.
The name Binbir Kilise reflects the folk perception of the dense cluster of religious and ancillary structures across Karadağ's slopes and foothills. The site consists of three settlement areas:
The area served as the seat of the Lykaonian bishopric of Barata.
Sir William M. Ramsay (1851-1939), the British archaeologist and biblical scholar, and Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), the British writer, archaeologist, and political officer, undertook the systematic documentation of Binbir Kilise during 1905-1907. Their findings were published as The Thousand and One Churches by Hodder & Stoughton in 1909 — still the foundational reference for the site.
Mesudiye village, founded in 1907 by Bulgarian-Turkish migrants on the Durayda land, lies just 1 km northwest of the archaeological site. The village predates organised excavation but post-dates the centuries during which Karadağ was a thriving Byzantine ecclesiastical centre. The settlement was unaware of its proximity to a major Christian archaeological complex when chosen for resettlement.