Cliff hanger: Sümela Monastery, founded in the 4th century, is a spectacular sight -- hanging 1,000 feet above a river valley in eastern Turkey. Hasan Tascan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images ...

Sumela Monastery, Turkey. The Greek Orthodox Sumela Monastery snuggles up against a steep cliff hundreds of feet above the ...

The monastery is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. between June and September; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. between October and May. A short film about the renovation is screened in one of the old monk’s cells.

Everyone told us we had to visit the Sumela Monastery, but was it worth the journey to get there? More for You. Major Backlash After Audit of Federal Credit Cards.

Cliff hanger: Sümela Monastery, founded in the 4th century, is a spectacular sight -- hanging 1,000 feet above a river valley in eastern Turkey. Hasan Tascan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images ...

Founded in the 4th century, Sümela is a gravity-defying marvel, hanging nearly 1,000 feet over a wooded valley in Turkey, that today attracts thousands of religious pilgrims.

Sumela Monastery Hakan Burak Altunoz/Anadolu via Getty Images. The Greek Orthodox Sumela Monastery snuggles up against a steep cliff hundreds of feet above the Altindere Valley in Turkey ...

The monastery is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. between June and September; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. between October and May. A short film about the renovation is screened in one of the old monk’s cells.

By Joe Yogerst, CNN (CNN) — If its ancient walls could talk, Sümela Monastery in eastern Turkey would have quite a few stories to tell. Since its founding in the 4th-century CE by some of the ...

By Joe Yogerst, CNN (CNN) — If its ancient walls could talk, Sümela Monastery in eastern Turkey would have quite a few stories to tell. Since its founding in the 4th-century CE by some of the ...