St. John the Baptist Church

St. John the Baptist Church

This structure, which is located on a high terrace in the west of Şirince Village in the Selçuk district of İzmir and is also described as the Domed Church, was built in 1805 with the help of Kallinikos of Siphnos, on behalf of John the Baptist (Ayios Ioannes Prodomos), on behalf of the Holy Priest of Heliapolis (Aydın). was made. The church was most likely built over the old church that was destroyed in the 1800 earthquake. It is understood from an inscription dated 1832 on the door that it was repaired for the second time.

It was restored by the Ephesus Museum and the American Institute in the 1990s. Today, this church, which is located in the garden of a private property, has three naves and a rectangular plan, made of cut stone and covered with a wooden roof. After the stone paved narthex, the naos is used. There are ornaments on the mihrab niche and its surroundings.

The middle part of the church is divided into three naves by columns and pillars. These are covered with two domes and vaults. There is also a half dome above the apse. There is a vaulted passage between both domes. There are cross vaults and three small oval domes on the side naves.