İznik Basilica to open to virtual world

BURSA

The İznik Lake Basilica, discovered in the northwestern province of Bursa's İznik Lake in 2014 and shown among the 10 most important discoveries in the world in the same year, will be opened to visitors in the virtual world with the augmented reality technology Metaverse.

Studies have been initiated to transfer the data obtained from the excavations, which were initiated seven years ago and carried out under the direction of Bursa Uludağ University Professor Mustafa Şahin, to the virtual world. The data will be uploaded to the Metaverse environment.

When the work is done, it will be possible to visit the İznik Lake Basilica by wearing VR glasses.

“With Metaverse technology, visiting important and hard-to-reach cultural sites is now much simpler. Thanks to the project, we aim to open the ruins of the İznik Lake Basilica Church to visitors in the virtual world. Thus, the venue of the 1st Council, which convened in İznik in 325 and is very important for the Christian world, will meet with visitors from all over the world with this project," Şahin said.

"It is difficult to visit the basilica due to the fact that it is underwater and requires certain equipment, but it can now easily be visited thanks to the project. The success of the project is also very important as it will pave the way for many ancient cities or structures in Türkiye and the world to be opened to visitors with modern technologies."

The Roman-era basilica, which lies in 1.5 to 2 meters of water, was discovered while photographing the city from the air to make an inventory of historical and cultural artifacts. Archaeologists, historians and art historians believe that the structure collapsed during an earthquake that occurred in the region in 740.

According to ancient resources, Christians definitely stopped by İznik in the middle ages while making their pilgrimage and visited the church.