Ruins of Orthodox chapel were found in Constantinople

The ruins of an Orthodox chapel building were found under a school building in the Bağcılar district, in Constantinople, Arkeonews reports.

According to sedmitza.ru, researchers do not yet know when and by whom the chapel was built, so excavations are planned to be carried out in the area.

Archaeologist Ömer Faruk Yavaşçay said in an interview that he noticed this structure on old maps of the city. In some of them, the chapel was designated as “Ayazma”, which means “holy water” in Turkish.

Yavaşçay noted that the site was a Greek village during Ottoman times and said that the building was likely built by Orthodox residents who lived in the village in the late 1800s.

Local residents told the archaeologist that there was a fountain on this site 25-30 years ago and later a school was built there, according to sedmitza.ru.

He added that large-scale excavations need to be carried out at the site to find more information about the chapel. Yavaşçay also stressed that the ruins of the chapel “should be taken care of and protected.”

The Bağcılar district is the fourth most populous district in Constantinople. During the period of the Ottoman Empire, Orthodox Greeks predominantly lived in that area.