Archaeologist Stunned to Find an Ancient Church Buried in Lake After an Earthquake, Says It Was Built Over a Temple
An ancient basilica was discovered under a Turkish lake by an archaeologist who has been investigating the existence of the structure for several years. Mustafa Sahin, head of the archaeological department at the Bursa Uludag University in Turkey, was left stunned when he finally found some aerial photographs of Lake Iznik, shown to him by local government surveyors in 2014. That was when Sahin realized that the ruins of the ancient structure were submerged under the lake, stated Live Science. ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ
"When I first saw the images of the lake, I was quite surprised to see a church structure that clearly," Sahin told Live Science over an email. "I was doing field surveys in Iznik since 2006 and I hadn't discovered such a magnificent structure like that." The submerged basilica rested 10 feet under the surface of the lake and was about 160 feet away from the shore, near the western tip of Turkey. One can reach the spot by taking a 2-hour drive from the capital city, Istanbul. Experts theorized that the church had elements of Roman architecture and was built on the shore of the lake around 390 A.D.
In 2014, an underwater Byzantine Basilica of Saint Neophytos, dedicated to Saint Neophytos, was discovered in Lake Iznik, modern-day Türkiye. Basilica had been built in place where he was killed on shore of lake and subsequently became submerged after an earthquake 740 CE.… pic.twitter.com/1WaZcq7hIX
— Archaeo - Histories (@archeohistories) January 17, 2024
Back then Lake Iznik was known as Nicea and Istanbul was Constantinople, the eastern region of the Roman Empire. Archaeologists believe the basilica might hide a pagan temple underneath its ruins. The basilica sank beneath the lake's surface after an earthquake in 740 A.D. destroyed most of the structures in the region. Over 1,600 years later, the remains were rediscovered with the help of Sahin and a local Turkish government leader, Alinur Aktas. Aktas has called for the site to be established as Turkey's first underwater archaeological museum.
Archaeologists explore the sunken ruins (and tombs!) of a 4th-century basilica in Turkey’s Lake Iznik. "The Sunken Basilica" premieres October 11 at 10/9c on PBS. #SecretsDeadPBS pic.twitter.com/oD8wqWHzTH
— Secrets of the Dead (@SecretsPBS) October 5, 2023
Sahin, along with the staff from Iznik's Archaeology Museum, has done several underwater excavation projects since 2015. Due to the hot and humid climate of the region, the lake was full of algae and it reduced visibility for the divers. "The most important finds included several human graves beneath the basilica's main transverse wall, known as the bema wall, referring to a raised platform used by the clergy," Sahin revealed. "Several coins found in those graves date from the reigns of the Roman emperors Valens (who ruled from A.D. 364 to 378) and Valentinian II (who ruled from A.D. 375 to 392), which showed the basilica was built after A.D. 390."
He believed that the basilica was dedicated to St. Neophytos who was killed by the Romans in 303 A.D. during the reign of emperor Diocletian and Neophytos was celebrated as an early Christian martyr. Sahin shared that the mystery of the submerged basilica may be older than Christianity itself. He theorized that the church was possibly built atop a pagan temple dedicated to Apollo, a Greek and Roman sun god. The team of experts also found early coins and fragments of ancient lamps at the submerged site, hinting about yet another hidden structure.