İznik Sunken Basilica

In 2014 an aerial survey of Lake İznik picked out a rectangular structure lying a couple of metres under the water about fifty metres off the shore - the walls, apse and nave of a basilica, its outline unmistakable from above. Excavation dated it to roughly the fifth century, built over what is thought to have been an earlier martyrium, and it is generally understood to have gone under when an earthquake in the eleventh century dropped this stretch of shoreline. The find was widely reported and İznik has since built a viewing platform over the site. The basilica sits in Nicaea, which held two of the ecumenical councils of the early Church, and the walls, gates, the Hagia Sophia in the town centre and the tile kilns are the rest of what makes İznik worth a day. Visibility over the ruin depends entirely on water clarity and light, and on a windy or murky day there is little to see.

The main sights

• The submerged outline - walls and apse under shallow water.
• The viewing platform - the built lookout over the site.
• The lakeshore setting - İznik's town walls behind.
• The water clarity - which decides the whole visit.

When to go

April to June and September to October, on a calm clear day - wind and murk hide the outline entirely. Midday light penetrates the water best.

Practical notes

You are looking at a submerged foundation from the shore, not visiting a monument. On poor days nothing is visible. Diving on the site is restricted to authorised work.

Nearby

İznik's Roman walls, the Hagia Sophia mosque and the tile workshops are in the town; Bursa is an hour and a half away.