Archaeologists unearth secret church tied to Council of Nicaea, Christianity’s defining moment

The excavation took place in the ancient city of Nicaea, now the modern Turkish town of İznik.(Mustafa Yilmaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The council famously produced the Nicene Creed, affirming that Jesus was “begotten, not made” andfully divinerather than a created being.

It represented one of the earliest efforts to unify Christian doctrine across theRoman Empire, and rejected the beliefs of Arius, who argued that Christ was a created being rather than co-eternal with God the Father.

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Archaeologists first identified a large submerged basilica at the site in 2014, later determining it was the Church of the Holy Fathers.

“We are very pleased because our hypothesis has been confirmed.”

While that basilica has long been associated with the First Council of Nicaea, Şahin said the newly uncovered, smaller church beneath it is a more likely candidate.

Şahin saidcoins recovered from gravesbeneath the later basilica helped date its construction to around A.D.380, reinforcing his conclusion that an earlier church occupied the site at the time of the council.

Eusebius of Caesarea, who attended the First Council of Nicaea, described the meeting as taking place in a small church — a detail that Şahin said supports his hypothesis.

“The church was so small that one wonders how so many bishops fit inside,” said Şahin.“This itself was a great miracle of God.”

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Historical accounts by Eusebius of Caesarea played a role in researchers’ interpretation of the site, according to Şahin.(Mustafa Yilmaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

After uncovering evidence that the basilica had been built over an earlier church, Şahin said he was confident the Church of Saint Neophytos stood beneath the Church of the Holy Fathers and was the church that hosted the First Council of Nicaea.

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“The Church of the Holy Fathers… was built after 380 over the site of the First Council and in memory of the bishops who attended it,” he said.

“As of this year, we are in a position to say definitively that the Church of the Holy Fathers is located here.We are very pleased because our hypothesis has been confirmed.”

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Turkey has been the site of numerousarchaeological discoveriestied to early Christianity.

Researchers said the findings reinforced their conclusion that the Church of the Holy Fathers was built over the site of the First Council of Nicaea.(Fine Art Images/Heritage Images via Getty Images;Mustafa Yilmaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Last summer, archaeologists excavating theancient city of Olymposin southern Turkey uncovered a fifth-century Christian church featuring a long-hidden inscription.

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Later that year, archaeologists in southwestern Turkey uncovered the remains of a Roman hospital that was later converted into aChristian sanctuary.