C010: Southwest Church
2006-05-18
Citation:
Page reference: Christopher Ratté and Peter D. De Staebler (eds.). Aphrodisias V. The Aphrodisias Regional Survey (Verlag Philipp von Zabern: Darmstadt/Mainz, 2012), 362; 114, 208, 233, 377, 378, 379 - Book catalogue no.: Inscriptions cat. 17; Churches cat. 03.
Other Identifiers:
C010
Subject(s):
Sanctuaries and Churches, Inscriptions, 5: Late Roman, 6: Byzantine
Description:
Local Name: Geyre Local Information: Regional Survey 2001 no. SW2 Latitude: 37.42.16.86 Longitude: 28.42.58.86 Elevation: 509m Axis: 75 degrees orientation at wall Dimensions: Southwest Church: L: approx. 30m; W: approx. 17m Description: Located about 250 m outside the City Wall, nearly on top of an earlier Roman tomb in the Southwest Necropolis, is a mound of rubble and scattered architectural blocks and piles of fieldstones over an area measuring approximately 30 m (E-W) by 17 m (N-S). The church is not well preserved, but it appears to also follow a basilica plan, probably with three aisles and a large central apse. It is oriented east–west, but as none of the outer walls is extant, no exact dimensions are measurable. ** At the eastern end, a semicircular recess faces toward the west, and the greater height of the mound here is probably due to the collapse of the apse and its semidome. Four curving molded marble blocks (L: 1.0 m–1.45 m; W: 0.72 m–0.81 m) may have been part of the cornice at the base of the half-dome over the apse. Visible at the west end of the mound are two parallel rows of in situ white marble blocks oriented east–west, which appear to be sections of the stylobate of the nave colonnades. The rows of slabs are 9.0 m apart; the northern row is visible for 8.3 m and the southern row for 6.0 m. Individual blocks range in length from 0.84 m to 1.85 m and in width from 0.75 m to 0.95 m; they are at least 0.3 m high. Despite their disparate dimensions, they are neatly squared and fitted, and several have mason's marks. ** Two monolithic mottled gray marble columns lie across the area of the nave between the two stylobates, and another similar fragment lies in the opening of the nearby tomb. Also interesting are two composite capitals, apparently of the High Imperial period except that one of the examples is reworked with crosses in place of the fleuron on two opposing faces (H: 0.55 m; W at top: 0.73 m). ** These stylobates could in theory be the foundations of the outer walls of a narrower single-aisled chapel, about 9 m wide, but the greater width of the mound to the east together with the columns and capitals argue in favor of a three-aisled basilica, perhaps 18 m–20 m wide. Two other architectural fragments of note are a smaller-scale double half-colonette and capital at the southern edge of the mound, which could be from a window mullion in the clerestory. Other finds are scattered toward the west end of the site, including a reused Imperial Roman marble statue base (inscribed "Agathe Tyche"), a single column base (Diam: 0.34 m; Base: 0.47 m square), a double-engaged capital, and a round grinding stone. ** The date of construction of the church is unknown, but an inscribed dedication on the left-hand fragment of a molded door lintel (H: 0.28 m; W: 0.64 m; D: 0.33 m) found inside the nave may provide some clue. The inscription reads in Greek: "✝ Heliodorus, the least of men . . ." (RS Inscriptions 3) Roueché dates the inscription broadly to the fifth to seventh century and notes that the deprecatory epithet is one commonly assumed by priests and monks. The text, which starts with a cross followed by Heliodorus's name in the nominative, should describe some kind of work on the building, but we cannot know whether it was the original construction, a refurbishment, or an embellishment. Together with the location of the church outside the City Wall in an ancient cemetery, and the double-column shafts and capitals of types common in Late Roman buildings, this inscription is consistent with an Early Christian construction date. Since most of the building activity in the city had stopped by the seventh century, the church might date to the fifth or sixth century.
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