Archive for June 15th, 2016
The church from the north-west
Excavation of the theatre site is under way as at the start of 2016. It’s about time – Iznik’s theatre is impressive and other sites have drawn the attention of the limited supply of archaeologists. This church is immediately to the south-east of the theatre (40.426228, 29.717525) and is finally being examined in a systematic way. The TAY website notes that the church remains have been used as a warehouse, barn and rubbish dump. After it was emptied of rubbish, local children had a new playground for a while. Now the church is safely behind razor wire and looking a bit like a dignified church ruin. Perhaps something will be found out about it because not much is known at present.
Remains of southernmost nave.
It’s an interesting sort of building arranged on a strict east-west axis. The apses at the eastern end appear to have been destroyed in the construction of Bozkır Sokak. This is a pity because the rest of the main body of the church is largely intact. One arch remains of an inner narthex. The rest of the floor plan at the western side may be a large exonarthex.
Western end of the church
The floor level has risen significantly with deposition of sediments over the centuries. There is a lot of work to do here.
The site from the south
Posted June 15, 2016 Posted by Adam in Uncategorized
View of the church site from the north-east
This is a large three-naved affair from the 13th century. The remaining masses of stonework show the four columns that were the base of the support for the dome. This appears to be another casualty of Greek-Turkish hostility during the 1920s although the church was probably in dilapidated condition prior to any deliberate destruction.
Security personnel
The site is protected with some formidable razor wire, probably necessary considering the friendliness of the guard dogs. I don’t know whether there is an official plan for this church but for now it remains inaccessible.
Enough detail remains in the brickwork to allow reasonable guesses about the structure of the church
Some of the brick structure of one pendentive remains