Citation
Page reference: Christopher Ratté and Peter D. De Staebler (eds.). Aphrodisias V. The Aphrodisias Regional Survey (Verlag Philipp von Zabern: Darmstadt/Mainz, 2012), 390 - Book catalogue no.: Churches cat. 13. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/93132>
Description
Local Name: Bingeç
Latitude: 37.37.08.82
Longitude: 28.36.27.36
Elevation: 828m
Dimensions: see description
Description: Located 15 km southwest of Aphrodisias at the western edge of the southwest plateau the site is likely the site of ancient Plarasa. A number of architectural elements probably from a local Early Christian building were found reused in the garden of a village house. The best datable examples in the group are impost capitals of the late fifth to sixth century A.D. One has a tall abacus at the top (H: 0.90 m; sides: 0.63 m), a plain base (H: 0.20 m), and a plain band that separates the abacus from the base (H: 0.03 m). A Maltese cross (cross arms: 0.10 m) is carved in low relief on one face of the capital. On the second capital (p. H: 0.51 m; W top: 0.44 m), the bell is fluted, and below the flutes is a row of eggs. Other blocks found with these capitals include a third capital, a base decorated with a Maltese cross, fragments of columns, screen colonettes, a column base (H: 0.10 m; W: 0.16 m; Diam: 0.14 m), a threshold block, and many octagonal paving tiles in both gray and white marble. In addition, an inscription discovered in 1993 in the process of road works nearby attests the presence of a church in the area: carved on a reused Doric architrave, the text reads in Greek, "Michael, help all the contributors." Roueché dates the inscription to the later fifth to sixth century A.D. and believes it should come from a church building dedicated to the Archangel Michael. The inscription and the capitals together suggest a fifth- to sixth-century date for the Bingeç church. The house with the architectural blocks and the findspot of the inscription are both in the southern part of the village, which indicates the church may have been in this general area. Extensive survey did not reveal any later Byzantine finds at Bingeç.