Archaeologists in Turkey say new evidence has strengthened the possibility that they have identified the remains of a church associated with the First Council of Nicaea, one of the most significant gatherings in Christian history.
Researchers resumed excavations in July at an ancient church complex on the shore of Lake İznik, in the modern Turkish town that was known in antiquity as Nicaea.
Mustafa Şahin, who is leading the excavation, said the latest work had uncovered flooring apparently belonging to an earlier building beneath the remains of the later church.
The site has been identified as the Church of St Neophytos, which researchers believe was destroyed by an earthquake in AD 368. The Church of the Holy Fathers was subsequently built there around AD 380, according to Turkish state news agency Anadolu.
Archaeologists have been investigating whether an earlier structure at the site could have been connected to the First Council of Nicaea, held in AD 325.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Şahin said the latest archaeological evidence appeared to correspond with accounts preserved in historical sources.
Researchers found paving associated with an earlier phase of the site running beneath parts of the later church, indicating that another structure had previously stood there.
"This first phase may correspond to the small church recounted in the written sources [about the Council of Nicaea]," Şahin said.
He told Anadolu that establishing whether an earlier structure existed had been a key focus of the latest excavations.
"That was our most important question this season," he said. "We began excavating east of the prothesis, outside the church's exterior wall."
"At the end of the first week, as we had hoped, we discovered that the floor paving continued beyond the existing church."
The findings do not establish conclusively that the First Council of Nicaea met at the site, but could provide further archaeological evidence about the Christian buildings standing there during the fourth century.
The council was convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325 and is regarded as the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church. Bishops gathered at Nicaea amid a major theological dispute over the nature of Jesus Christ and his relationship with God the Father.
The council produced the original Nicene Creed, affirming that Jesus Christ was truly divine and "of one substance" with the Father. The creed was subsequently expanded at the Council of Constantinople in AD 381, producing the form that became known as the Nicene Creed and is widely used in Christian worship today.
The creed remains one of Christianity's most important statements of faith and continues to be professed by Catholics, Orthodox Christians and many Protestant denominations around the world.
The archaeological work follows renewed attention on Nicaea after Christians marked the 1,700th anniversary of the council in 2025.
