MERETO CHURCH

X:41,542986 Y:38,382496 Z:2.967.69

Mereto Church is located on the summit of Mereto Mountain at an altitude of 2967m above sea level, 5km southeast of Kayadibi (Purşeng) hamlet of Örenağıl (Versenge) village in Sason district of Batman province. Örenağıl village is located 87km northeast of Batman city center and 21km northeast of Sason county center.

The church is placed on a rectangular area measuring 6.65 m in east-west direction and 9.40 m in north-south direction. The narthex (entrance) of the church, which consists of a narthex and a naos area, is located in the southwest corner.

The narthex section has a rectangular plan. The top cover of this section has been completely destroyed. The naos area is accessed through the opening to the northeast of the narthex section. The naos area extending in an east-west direction has a rectangular plan close to a square. There is a square planned niche on the northern wall of the naos area. To the east of the naos area, there are two sections separated from each other by piers. These sections have round arches and are thought to have been used as apses.

As it is understood from the ruins of the church, the upper cover of which was partially destroyed, it was built with a barrel vault. Cross motifs made with scraping technique were found on the cut stones around the church. Cut stone, rubble stone and cas mortar were used in the construction of the destroyed church.