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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Koimesis Kilisesi |
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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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Phase:
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Early |
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Investigation Method:
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Survey Excavation |
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Altitude:
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Region:
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Central Anatolia |
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Province:
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Konya |
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District:
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Selçuklu |
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Village:
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Sille |
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Antique Name:
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Sylata - Sylla |
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| Location: It is located in the rocky area in the south side of the settlement in Sille within the borders of Selçuklu District of Konya Province. |
| Geography and Environment: |
| Research and Excavation: During the cleaning studies carried out under the leadership of Yusuf Benli in the summer of 2006, several graves were found in the naos. The cleaning studies were conducted in the rooms in the east. During the excavation carried out by Konya Museum in 2011-2012, the burial chamber located under the naos was cleaned. |
| Description: Architectural Features: The church carved into rock is in basilica plan with three naves. There is a burial chamber under the structure and a room, which could be used as refectory, to the east. The naos of the church is entered through two doors in the north. The irregular rectangular planned naos is divided into three naves by three pillars. The pillar in the northeast has broken. The pillars that were not neatly placed are linked to each other by round arches carved into rock. The craftsmanship of the wall masonry indicates that the church has at least two phases. Originally, the church was with two naves and then it was enlarged towards the south and east and gained its current appearance. The naves are covered by barrel vault. There are graves in various size on the floor of the naos. The bema and the floor of the apse are separated from the naos by a step. There is a rock carved altar adjacent to the east wall of the apse in irregular rectangular plan. The round burial chamber is located under the naos. To the east of the church, a large room locates. This room, the north wall of which has collapsed, is entered through the opening in the northeast corner of the church. This rectangular planned room is divided by four pillars, one of which couldn't survived up to date. There are three rectangular niches, which have partially collapsed, on the east wall of the room. To the east, the floor of the room was raised by a single step. Another irregular planned rooms were added to the east of this section. Decorative Features: Frescoes can be seen on the face of the arch and the north wall of the church. The majority of these frescoes have been damaged. The scene of Falling Asleep (Koimesis), which named the church, can be identified among these remains. On the left side of the scene, Christ holding a small child clothed in white, symbolizing Mary's soul is depicted. There are saint figures with halos bowing their heads on the right side. The belly of the arches linking the pillars in front of the apse and the faces of the pillars are decorated with standing Virgin Mary and saint figures. There are portraits in medallions, which have been damaged, on the flat ceiling in front of the apse. There are also geometric motifs such as zigzags in red and black on the body of the pillars. |
| Finds: Although, it is stated that the graves yielded several small findings during the excavation carried out by Konya Museum, no data has been published yet. |
| Interpretation: There are different ideas about the function of the second section in the east of the church. While the room in west, which is adjacent to the church, was described as refectory by M. Restle [Restle 1969:181], S. Eyice stated that it was defined as a room added in parallel with the requirements [Eyice 1966:159]. H. Özyurt, on the other hand, stated that it is a church in cross in square plan [Özcan 1995:6]. |
| Destruction: |
