UNDERWATER RESEARCH OF THE SUNKEN BASILICA IN IZNIK

The first act of our Foundation’s activity is, starting from 2023, financial support and joining the research of the sunken early Christian basilica, the discovery of which in 2014 was an important global scientific event in recent years. A photo of the church ruins taken from an airplane also reached the world media. The basilica was discovered during a drought, as a result of which the water level in Lake Iznik decreased. During this period, an aerial survey of the city and the adjacent lake waters was carried out. It was thanks to aerial photos and a bird’s eye view of the ruins protruding from the water, close to the shore on the city side, known to residents for years, that the shape of the layout of this monument was first noticed. Specialists quickly noticed that the rectangular room divided into four parts was an elongated narthex – the vestibule of the temple, the three rooms directed perpendicular to the previous one were the naves, the semicircular structure crowning them was the apse, the small room to the north of it was the prothesis, and the analogous one to the south of the apses are diaconicon, while the rectangular walls in front of the building are the remains of the atrium. It became obvious that in the waters of the lake there were the ruins of a basilica-type Christian temple.

The dimensions of the monument were estimated at 18 x 41 m. This proves that it was once the largest Christian temple in Nikaea, taking into account the size of the churches discovered there so far. The Christian basilica was first created in Rome, specifically in 313, with the foundation of the temple of St. Saint John Lateran (Krautcheimer 1975, 25-26). From the 4th to the 6th century, basilicas were – both in the West and the East – the basic type of patriarchal, episcopal and monastic temples. A significant number of these buildings were built already in the 4th century. However, they were most intensively constructed in the following two centuries. We only know a few temples of this type from the 7th century (Patricios 2014, 49). They were built in a large number of different variants. These were three-nave basilicas with a narthex, single-apse basilicas without a transept, with columned porticos between the naves. Some of them had semicircular apses, characteristic of early Christian architecture of Western Roman origin (Western Christian type); and part of the apse – polygonal from the outside and semicircular from the inside (Greek-Byzantine type). The structure of the basilica discovered in the waters of Lake Nicaea is analogous to the basilicas known from Cilicia and Syria (Patricios 2014, 189).

Archaeological research of this extraordinary monument was undertaken by Turkish archaeologist Prof. Mustafa Şahin from the Department of Archeology, University of Bursa. Research carried out underwater at a shallow depth of approximately 2 m provided a lot of new information about this mysterious temple. As a result, they discovered, among others: 19 coins, which are currently the basis for dating the time of the temple’s construction and the period until which it could have been used. The oldest coins come from the period of the reign of Emperor Theodosius I (392-395), and coins of emperors Valens (364-378) and Valentinian (375-392) were discovered in a survey trench located inside the main nave of the temple, but at a depth slightly below the level of its use. ). On this basis, it was determined that the temple was most likely built in the 1490s at the latest. The youngest coins were minted during the reign of Emperor Basil II (976-1025). This indicates that the church functioned until this period, and then it was destroyed. It was also found that the church was most likely dedicated to Saint. Naophytos – Hagios Neophytos, who was martyred in Nicaea before Christianity was recognized as the official religion (Bernardin Methon 1935, 22). It is believed that the martyr’s grave is located in the church of St. Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nikaea (Şahin 2020).

How did it happen that a temple that once stood on land ended up underwater?
Unfortunately, we don’t know this. We can only hope that this issue will be clarified by further research, conducted with the support and participation of our Foundation. However, the basilica is not the only sunken ruin in the waters of Lake Iznik. It cannot be ruled out that not only it, but even the entire western part of the city was under water (Çetinkaya 2021, pp. 72-73). The discovery of the sunken basilica is also directly related to the issues of our project “NIKAEA 325”, one of the goals of which is to locate the place where the First Council of Nicaea took place. According to prof. M. Şahin this place can be identified with the ruins of a sunken basilica (CONCEPT NO. 7). The basis of this concept is the analysis of the fresco by Cesare Nebbia, Concilium Nicaenum I, 1585-1590, located in the Vatican. It presents the deliberations of the participants of the First Council of Nicaea, depicted in a place from which the city’s port structures are visible from the west, which corresponds well with the location of the facility in question. There may be other arguments in favor of the above concept.

The area where it is the southwestern range of fortifications, which in this area have a specific irregular arrangement. The above course of the fortification line could potentially be caused by the presence of some important complex in this area, e.g. a palace? In the past, a stream flowed through this area, the name of which tradition associates with the 318 Fathers. To sum up, there could have been a palace complex there, consisting of many buildings, including the now flooded basilica, connected to the port. However, the basilica was most likely built several decades later, after 325!

Bibliography
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Çetinkaya H. 2021. Byzantine Churches of Nicaea, (w:) М. Ракоција, M. Rakocija (red.),
НИШ И ВИЗАНТИЈА XIX NIŠ & BYZANTIUM XIX СИМПОЗИУМ, НИШ 3-5. јун
2020, Niš, s. 55-76.
Krautheimer R. 1975. Early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Harmondsworth.
Patricios N.N. 2014. The Sacred Architecture of Byzantium. Art, Liturgy and Symbolism in
Early Christian Churches, London–New York.
Şahin M. 2020. Neue Forschungen und Ausgrabungen in der Basilika des İznik Sees, (w) A.
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