Centuries-old church found in ancient city

TOKAT - Anadolu Agency

The church was discovered during excavations in the ancient city of Komana and is estimated to date back to between the 10th and 12th centuries.

Ongoing excavation works in the northern Anatolian province of Tokat’s ancient city of Komana have unearthed a church that is estimated to date back to between the 10th and 12th centuries. 

“This place will make Tokat a unique city but we have to be patient because it is a very delicate and detailed work,” said Tokat Gov. Mustafa Taşkesen during a visit to the ancient city.

The head of the excavations, Professor Burcu Erciyas of Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) said works had not been completed yet in the area where they had found the church. 

“Currently, it seems like a small structure, but the high-quality of wall paintings inside the church and their color show us that it is an important structure. We see many decorations in the church. We have found architectural pieces with flower designs, which is unique to Byzantium,” Erciyas said.

Cross discovered

She said they had also found a cross in excavations inside the church. “The church has a big abscissa and two small abscissas. We unearthed three places actually. One of these three places has three crosses. We found bronze pieces belonging to the church. We also found a graveyard.” 

Erciyas said they had so far unearthed pieces from the Middle Age. “But we have also reached Roman and Hellenistic period pieces. This shows us that the settlement dates back to the 300s B.C.”