Mountaintop Trabzon monastery set to become more accessible for visitors

The Kuştul Monastery has been clinging to pillars of sheer rock overlooking a valley in the Black Sea province of Trabzon's picturesque Maçka district for many centuries. Worshippers, throughout the centuries, seemingly had to trek a difficult route to get to the monastery. But now abandoned and nonfunctioning, authorities in Trabzon want to open Kuştul to tourists and history aficionados, who cannot access the monastery unless it is made accessible.