Up to recent times, Samatya was mostly inhabited by Armenians, who were settled here in 1458 by Sultan Mehmet II, and who own there the church of "Surp Kevork", also called "Sulu Manastiri" (Water's monastery) – previously an Eastern Orthodox church which dates back to before the Ottoman conquest, and by Greeks, who have the churches of "Hristos Analipsis" and "Haghios Menas".