[1]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 [2] 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.
[3]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.
[4]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.
[5]The site from the south
[6]