A073: Yeniköy Chapel

Page reference: Christopher Ratté and Peter D. De Staebler (eds.). Aphrodisias V. The Aphrodisias Regional Survey (Verlag Philipp von Zabern: Darmstadt/Mainz, 2012), 237, 384, 385 - Book catalogue no.: Churches cat. 10. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/93118>

A073

Sanctuaries and Churches6: Byzantine

Local Name: Ağaçarası Tepesi or Alagüz Tepesi, Yeniköy areaLatitude: 37.44.21.24Longitude: 28.48.55.08Elevation: 1232mAxis: 145 degreesDimensions: H. max: 1.80m ** L. north wall: approx. 8mDescription: Oriented roughly northeast–southwest, the chapel is asmall, single-nave structure with the apse toward the east and perhaps a narthex toward the west. The extant walls are buried under as much as 2.0 m of loose stone, brick, and rubble, perhaps from the collapsed vault or semidome of the building. Along the apse, the inner face of the wall is visible to a height 1.1m above the present ground surface, as is a single bench synthronon (H: 0.30 m), both exposed by illicit excavations. Numerous fragments of roof tiles and marble paving stones are mixed in with the debris. The side walls are built of unmortared schist with some brick inclusions. The rubble masonry of the apse and synthronon (W: 0.70 m), however, is heavily mortared, and the joints between the stones are scored (Fig. 21). The full 0.8 m thickness of the side walls can be measured only at what appears to be the dividing wall between the nave and the narthex; the maximum preserved height is 0.8 m, and the wall is exposed for 1.1 m. Robber's pits along the north wall have exposed some other construction details, including the inner wall of the apse and the foundations of the synthronon. From the southeast end of the apse, the outer wall runs to the southeast at a right angle to the apse wall for at least 1.4 m, probably connecting the naos to a side chamber. A platform about 8 m wide extends the length of the southern (downhill) side of the chapel and perhaps indicates the presence of an ancillary structure there. ** Fragments of the church's marble decoration that have survived in the area include a doorjamb found in front of an abandoned house not far from the church in 2005 but not seen again in subsequent visits. Nearby was a fragment of a marble screen panel showing the lower arm of a lobed cross together with an unidentified motif, perhaps a stylized cypress tree (A071) (H: 0.47 m; W: 0.30 m; D: 0.08 m). Both the doorjamb and the screen panel could be from this church. The decoration of the jamb block is typically Middle Byzantine; one side is profiled, and the front is carved with interlocked chains of guilloches and lozenges. This design is comparable to the decoration of architectural features that were part of the renovation of the Cathedral in Aphrodisias, dated to the tenth century.

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