Hagia Elena Church
Sille is an important center of the early Christian period, which has a special meaning for Anatolian civilizations and where cultures lived together in history. Helena, the mother of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine, in 327 after Jesus, stopped by Konya on her way to Jerusalem for pilgrimage, saw the carved temples of the first Christian eras here, and decided to build a temple in Sille for the Christians. Aya-Elena Church has survived to the present day after undergoing repairs for centuries. A Turkish repair inscription written in Greek letters on the inner door of the church gives information about the history of the church. This inscription is dated 1833. On the same inscription, there is another three-line inscription stating that the fourth repair of the church was made during the reign of Sultan Mecit. The church was built with smooth cut Sille Stone. There are rooms carved into the rocks in the courtyard. The outer narthex is entered through the door opening to the north of the church. There are two-way stone stairs leading to the women's chamber here. The main dome of the church is on four elephant feet and the church has three naves. Inside the church is a wooden sermon lectern decorated with plaster, and the wooden plastered cage separating the apse and the main space is a masterpiece. There are pictures of Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary and the apostles on the dome crossings and carrier legs.
