Niğde Andaval Archaeological Sitevisitor guide.

Referenced in historical texts as Andabalis, Adualis, or Ambabalis, this settlement was a military garrison in Late Antiquity situated on the route extending from the capital Constantinople to Cilicia and onwards to the Holy Land. According to legend, Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, had several churches built across the region during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the first half of the 4th century. Considering architectural layout characteristics, the church surviving today (Church of Constantine and Helena) must have been constructed in a subsequent period either on the exact site or near the church built by Helena. Following the Turkish conquest of Anatolia in the 11th century, the church remained open for worship by non-Muslim subjects resident in the region. Conducting investigations on the building in the 1970s and publishing his findings in 1979, M. Restle observed the barrel vault covering the central nave and part of the wall frescoes, noting that the wall paintings existed in three distinct strata. Shortly before H. Rott's visit in 1908 in the early 20th century, the side aisles were removed and the spaces between the nave piers walled in. The central nave of the church collapsed in 1977. DOWNLOAD MUSEUM BROCHURE NEARBY MUSEUMS NİĞDE MUSEUM GÜMÜŞLER MONASTERY AND UNDERGROUND CITY