MOSAICS OF KOIMESIS TES THEOTOKOS CHURCH FROM İZNİK/NIKAIA

The subject of this article is the wall and ceiling mosaics of Koimesis Tes Theotokos Church located in Iznik district of Bursa province date back to the 8th century. Researches in the late 19th and early 20th centuries indicate that the building was decorated with mosaics from the early stages. The mosaics of the Church which are important for the history of Byzantine and Christianity have been documented by Oskar Wulff and Theodor Schmit and have been an important source of research in this field. These mosaics, which have been changed many times with the iconoclastic periods and earthquakes or renewed in their original form, are located in the half-dome of the church s apse, in the bema belt, in the east pendants of the middle nave and in the narthex section. The mosaics, especially in the main apse and bema parts of the building, provide important information about the church s first building periods.