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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Ayasofya |
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For site maps and drawings please click on the picture...  |
For photographs please click on the photo...  |
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Type:
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Church |
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Plan Type:
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Basilica |
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Year of Costruction:
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5th - 6th c. |
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Phase:
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Early |
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Investigation Method:
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Survey Excavation Restoration |
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Altitude:
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45 |
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Region:
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Marmara |
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Province:
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Bursa |
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District:
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Iznik |
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Village:
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Mahmut Çelebi Mah. |
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Antique Name:
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Nicaia |
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| Location: It is located almost at the center of the town, on the intersection of the Atatürk and Kilicarslan Streets in the Mahmut Çelebi Quarter of the Iznik District in Bursa. |
| Geography and Environment: Being a significant center during the Byzantine Period, St. Sophia, the cathedral church of Iznik (Nicaea), is the place where the Second Council of Nicaea met in 787. At present, it is situated lower than the road, and its surroundings were organized, and converted into a park in 1998. It is, now, open to visit as a unit of the Museum of Iznik. |
| Research and Excavation: A sounding was carried out in the apse of the building by A.M. Schneider in 1935 [Schneider 1943b:15]. Opus sectile flooring was found during cleaning for 1955 Byzantine Researches X following the removal of the rubbles at the center nave. The flooring was restores after 1961 [Eyice, 1963a, 374; Demiriz, 2002, 85-86]. Deisis frescoe was unearthed after emptying the grave niche inside north wall in 1971 [Yalçin, 1990, 371, 374; Yalçin, 1997, 6]. The small additional building found in the southeast of the basilicum in 1980, was unearthed through an excavation in 1985 [Ayas, 1986, 3-4; Möllers, 1994, 7, 59]. |
| Description: Building Phases: The original construction of the building was probably over a preexisting structure from the Roman Period during the 5th or 6th century. It is a basilical church, divided into three naves by intercolumniations. To the southeast of the basilica rises an additional structure. Following the earthquake in 1065, the intercolumniations dividing the naves was removed during the repairworks, and replaced by three rows of arches, supported by two main wall pillars and two each thin pillars in between. Converted into a mosque in 1331, a minaret was added to the northern end of the narthex [Schneider 1943b:14]. Partly survived to the present day, the base of the minaret is from the Orhan's Period while the shaft was made by Sinan the Architect. After undergoing a fire in the 16th century, it was repaired by Sinan, and the two each pillars between the wall pillars were removed, and the wall pillars were connected by an arch covering a large space [Ayverdi 1966:160; Eyice 1988a:34]. Architectural Features: It is a basilical church, divided into three naves by two intercolumniations, which had been replaced by a row of pillars in a later period. It is circular on the inside, and pentagonal on the outside, flanked by pastophoria compartments. The excavation in 1935 yielded the presence of a synthronon in the apse [Schneider 1943b:15]. The nave in the middle was covered by a wooden gable roof, and the lateral naves by a pitched roof while the pastophoria compartments were crowned by small domes. Erected on the ruins of an ancient structure at the city center, the walls were built with reused block stones from the ancient period up to a height of 2 m, then continued in brick masonry. However, the walls were repaired using courses of stones and bricks [Möllers 1944:39]. In recent years, remains of a small chapel adjacent to the southern building were unearthed during cleaning works around the church [Eyice 1988a:18]. Decorative Features: There is a mosaic pavement with geometrical decorations recovered during the sounding carried out by Schneider in the apse of the church [Schneider 1943b:15] as well as mosaic pavements in the technique called opus sectile from the second phase of the construction (after the earthquake in 1065), covering the entire nave in the middle, but survived only partly to the present day [Demiriz 2002:84-93; Eyice 1963a:373-374, fig. 1, res. 1-10]. There is depiction of a Desis composition in fresco technique dating to the 11th century inside the arcosolium niche in the northern nave [Eyice 1988a:18]. The fresco decoration, still traceable, in the diaconicon of the church is dated to the 13th-14th centuries considering the architectural characteristics of the dome [Alpatoff 1926b:42]. Ornamented with decorative carvings during the Ottoman Period, tiles and plaster were used, particularly around the mihrab for decorations [Otto-Dorn 1941:11-12]. Byzantine frescoes were unearthed through removal of the deposit underneath the arches, which were intentionally closed during Byzantine, Ottoman and following periods, in scope of restorations performed between 2007-2009. Besides geometric decorations the frescoes bear a cross motif with two visible arms, on which the plaster was not completely removed [Ermis, 2009, 70-72]. |
| Finds: A reliquary in shape of a small sarcophagus was unearthed during the removal of the earth in bema [Eyice 1969d:98-99]. |
| Interpretation: Brunoff and Schneider share different views about the construction phases of the building [Brunoff 1925:471-481; Schneider 1943b:10-17]. |
| Destruction: The top cover was inappropriately rebuilt during the restoration work in. The walls were raised approximately 2-3 m using new bricks, and a wooden roof was installed. The mid nave was covered with double pitched roof. Sidal naves were covered with single pitch roof and the upper roof was completely covered with tiles. Southeast and northeast domes, apse semi-dome and bema arch were covered with concrete from outside. Glasses were installed on all the openings using nailed hinges on the walls which is an unacceptable application. The construction scaffold built outside the apse seriously harmed the apse wall. The center window of the apse was demolished to transform it into a door. The west side openings were closed by nailing wooden planks during restoration which heavily harmed the walls. Besides the narthex the half demolished minaret in the northwest was renewed and raised. The new minaret does not reflect the characteristics of the authentic building. Destruction through light fixtures can be observed on all the walls of the church [TAYEx 26.07.2008]. |
