Basilica of Saint Neophytos is the name of a defunct, underwater

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

Lake İznik Lake İznik () is a freshwater lake in the Province of Bursa, Turkey. It is around 32 km in length and 10 km in width with a maximum depth of about 80 m. The town of Iznik (historically known as Nicaea) lies at its eastern end. T ...

, modern-day

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Coordinates: 40.4258225,29.7095841 visible just off shore.

History

In 2014 the underwater

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Basilica of Saint Neophytos, dedicated to

Saint Neophytos Neophytos of Cyprus, Saint Neophytos, Neophytos the Recluse (Greek language, Greek: Άγιος Νεόφυτος ο Έγκλειστος; 1134–1214) was a Cyprus, Cypriot Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monk, priest, and sometime hermit, whos ...

, was discovered in

, modern-day

. The basilica had been built in the place where he was killed on the shore of the lake and subsequently became submerged after an earthquake AD740.https://www.dailysabah.com/life/history/underwater-st-neophytos-basilica-resurfaces-with-retreat-of-lake-iznik Underwater St. Neophytos basilica resurfaces with retreat of Lake Iznik It is possible, according to researchers, that the basilica was built as a result of the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...

, convened by Emperor

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

in the year 325. Its discovery was included in the list of top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2014 released by

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America, North America's oldest learned society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and ...

References

{{Coord, 40, 25, 32.8, N, 29, 42, 35.1, E, display=title Byzantine church buildings in Turkey History of Bursa Province Lakes of Turkey Underwater ruins Byzantine Bithynia

External Links

PBS video "Secrets of the Dead: The Sunken Basilica"

Google Maps URL close up of site.