Abstract:

The remains of the structure known as the Balatlar Church in Sinop are originally an imperial bath complex from the Late Roman period. The archaeological excavations since 2010 have revealed that the bath was built in the late Roman period on the remains of an earlier structure and the finds that covers quite a wide range of time from 6th century BC to 20thcentury AD. When the Christianity became the official religion; at the end of 4th century or in the 5th century caldarium of the bath was transformed into a church, while tepidarium was turned into a courtyard and frigidarium into a graveyard/burial area. After the destruction of the bigger church in the first half of the 7th century, new churches were built to the southern cross of caldarium and western part of palaestra. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century another church within the building complex continued to exist. The oldest church in Balatlar is the one in area no VIII (caldarium) dated to the 5th-6th centuries. A large cemetery has been found within the church, in the courtyard and at the frigidarium. In this study, floor mosaics from early Byzantine period unearthed at the cemetery during the 2016-2017 excavation seasons will be introduced. In those mosaics, which also contain inscriptions of the benefactors, we observe that multi-colored decorative geometric, floral and figurative designs that are connected to Christian iconographic repertoire were used together.

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