Archaeologists uncover small church possibly linked to Council of Nicaea
International
Post Date:
August 12, 2026
Archaeologists uncover small church possibly linked to Council of Nicaea
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Pope Leo XIV and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I lead a prayer service near the archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos Associated Press / Photo by Domenico Stinellis
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Excavators in Turkey this summer found evidence of a small church, possibly tied to the Council of Nicaea, hidden beneath the remains of an old basilica in northwest Turkey. Researchers began an underwater excavation in 2015 in Lake İznik and uncovered the footprint of what may be the Basilica of St. Neophytos, which academics have long associated with the First Council of Nicaea.
Excavation director Mustafa Şahin told WORLD that workers recently uncovered a smaller building attached to the larger basilica, which he believed to be the true meeting place of the First Ecumenical Council. Şahin described Nicaea, now modern-day İznik, as a very significant location in Christian history for hosting both the First and Seventh Ecumenical Councils. While it’s well known that the Seventh Council met at the Hagia Sophia church, the first council’s meeting place remained a mystery despite several historical accounts.
Şahin’s team uncovered a paved floor extending beyond the established church’s walls and beneath a separate liturgical chamber, he said. The newly discovered floor lay nearly a foot below the excavated basilica, Şahin said.
What makes them think the smaller church hosted the council? Şahin highlighted several historical accounts suggesting that a smaller church hosted the council meeting. The Greek bishop Eusebius of Caesarea gave a written account of the meeting where church leaders produced the Nicene Creed affirming Christ as fully divine. Eusebius explicitly stated that the meeting took place in a small church, or "house of prayer”, according to Şahin.
Gregory of Caesarea also recorded that a church dedicated to the Holy Fathers was later built on the site where the Council of Nicaea had met, which accounted for the building’s two separate construction phases, Şahin continued.
Şahin also noted that soldiers attacking Nicaea around 729 AD worshiped at the Church of the Holy Fathers referenced by Gregory. The attacking forces never took the city, but were still able to worship at the Church of the Holy Fathers, meaning the church must be located outside the city’s walls, Şahin said.
Şahin now believed that the smaller building was what historians referred to as the Church of Neophytos, while the structure surviving to the present day is thought to be the Church of Holy Fathers.
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Christina Grube is a graduate of the World Journalism Institute.
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