On the north side of the present highway in Sardis, five large rectangular piers can still be seen standing in the field. These piers are preserved up to a height of about ten metres. Parts of them are still partly buried in the ground. Archaeologists believe that these strong supports once belonged to the main church of the city, known as Church D.
It is thought that this church may have been built on the site of an earlier ancient temple. This was common in late Roman and Byzantine times. Many Christian churches were constructed on or near older pagan temples. This showed both continuity and change in the religious life of the city Customized Tours Istanbul.
The piers were built using reused materials. Builders collected stones from older buildings and combined them with rubble and mortar. The outer surface was covered with irregular ashlar blocks. This method of construction was practical and economical. It also shows that materials from earlier monuments were carefully recycled.
Some architectural parts of the church have survived. Parts of the pendentives can still be seen. Pendentives are curved triangular sections that help support a dome. There are also remains of the springing of sideways arches. These details suggest that the church may have had a large central dome, supported by the strong piers. The building is believed to have continued further to the north, but this area has not yet been fully excavated.
Future excavations are expected to give more information about the complete plan of the church. Archaeologists also hope to discover to whom the church was dedicated. It may have been named after an important saint or religious figure, but no clear evidence has yet been found.
The Ruins of Churches E and EA
Near these remains stand the ruins of Churches E and EA, with the acropolis of Sardis rising in the background. The apses of both churches can clearly be seen in the foreground. At the centre of the ruins stands a brick structure, which is the fallen dome of Church E. Together, these buildings show the strong Christian presence that once existed in Sardis Early Christian Churches near the Temple of Artemis in Sardis.
The Synagogue in Sardis
Sardis was not only an important Christian centre. It also had a very early and important Jewish community. The Jewish presence in Sardis is believed to go back many centuries.
In 586 BCE, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. He took the king of Judah, his family, important citizens, soldiers, priests, scribes, and craftsmen to Babylon. They remained there until 539 BCE, when Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon.
In the following year, Cyrus allowed the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Second Temple. However, not all Jews returned. Some remained in different parts of the Persian Empire.
The biblical book of Obadiah, written in the mid-fifth century BCE, mentions that the captives of Jerusalem who were in “Sepharad” would one day return and take possession of their lands. Many scholars believe that “Sepharad” was the Semitic name for Sardis. If this interpretation is correct, it means that some Jewish exiles from Jerusalem were settled in Sardis during or after the Babylonian period.
This early settlement may explain why Sardis later had one of the largest and most impressive synagogues in the ancient world. The Jewish community of Sardis played an important role in the history of the city. The remains of the synagogue stand as clear evidence of the long and rich Jewish tradition in this important centre of western Anatolia.
