With the increased promotion of the historical site, the number of foreign tourists has increased by 73 percent compared to last year, reaching a total of 395,981 visitors in 2010.
Considered one of the most sacred spots for Orthodox Christians, the Sumela Monastery was opened to a very special mass service on August 15th of last year. The mass was held by the Fener Greek Patriarch Dimitri Bartholeomeos and was attended by almost 500 Orthodox Christians from the Russian Federation, Greece, Georgia, the US as well as from all over Turkey.
The mass was covered on live broadcast on a new of television stations throughout the world.
According to information received by the Trabzon Governorship, the Sumela Monastery, which is one of the most significant historical sites in the Eastern Black Sea region, brought in 367,084 domestic and 28,897 foreign visitors last year.
In 2009, 208,086 domestic and 20,535 foreign tourists visited the site.
Throughout the city of Trabzon, the number of tourists that visited historical sites and museums increased by 40 percent overall in 2010.