Quick Answer
Balatlar Church in Sinop, on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, was originally a Roman temple and later became a Byzantine church. In 2009, archaeologists found a stone chest bearing a carved Christian cross—believed possibly to contain a fragment of the True Cross. The excavation has revealed over two thousand human skeletons and artefacts from Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman periods. The site is significant both for the relic find and for its deep stratigraphic layers, which tell the story of Sinop’s continuous occupation across different civilisations.
The Find
In 2009, a Turkish archaeological team excavating Balatlar Church in Sinop uncovered a stone chest bearing a carved Christian cross. The team, led by Professor Gülgün Köroğlu of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University’s art history department, believes the chest may have held a fragment of the True Cross — the cross on which, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was crucified. The chest is now kept in the Sinop Archaeology Museum.
The church itself began as a Roman temple before being converted into a Byzantine church in the seventh century. That sequence — Roman, Byzantine, then something else, then something else again — turns out to be the theme of the entire site.
What the Excavation Has Revealed
Professor Köroğlu described the significance in measured terms: “We have found a holy thing in a chest. It is a piece of a cross, and we think it was part of the True Cross. This stone chest is very important to us. It has a history and is the most important artefact we have unearthed so far.”
The dig has been running since 2009, and the broader findings go well beyond the chest. Over two thousand human skeletons have been recovered. The site shows traces of early Roman, late Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman use — layer upon layer of occupation on the same strip of ground. Evidence suggests the space served at different times as a hotel, a warehouse, a bathhouse, and a place of entertainment, as well as a church. It may also be the Church of Saint Fokas, who, according to local tradition, protects those in danger at sea.
The Mithridates Connection
There is a further possibility that keeps the excavation in academic attention. The project team believes that the palace of Mithridates VI, King of Pontus, may lie somewhere within the site’s footprint. Mithridates — who defeated Roman forces forty-two times and whose reputation made him one of the most formidable adversaries Rome ever faced — is known to have had a palace described in English-language sources as being in this area. A statue of the king, referenced as standing “in front of the palace,” has not yet been found.
Hikmet Tosun, the provincial director of culture and tourism, put it plainly: “On the day we find Mithridates’s palace and statue, a million tourists will come to Sinop.”
What Has Come Out of the Ground
The scale of the material recovered is considerable. According to Tosun, the Sinop Museum currently exhibits around two thousand objects, with a further eleven thousand in storage — and nearly all of them came from this single excavation area. The dig has also drawn scholarly attention from Greece and Italy.
Sinop is one of the oldest continuously occupied port cities on the Black Sea coast. The Balatlar excavation is steadily confirming that its history runs deeper and more layered than the visible city suggests. The stone chest with the cross is the find that drew attention, but the site as a whole may prove to be the more significant story.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is the stone chest definitely from the True Cross? The archaeologists are cautious: the chest bears a cross and appears to have held something valuable, but absolute proof of its contents requires further analysis. Claims of True Cross relics are common in Christian archaeology and require scrutiny. What is certain is that this was a valued object carefully preserved in a sacred building.
How many layers of occupation were found at Balatlar? The site shows continuous use from Roman times through Ottoman occupation—at least five distinct periods. The same space functioned variously as a temple, church, warehouse, hotel, bathhouse, and place of entertainment across different eras. The two thousand skeletons suggest it was also a burial ground at various points.
Why were so many skeletons found at one site? The burials likely accumulated over centuries. In the Byzantine period, it may have functioned as a church with a burial ground. Later uses would have preserved earlier burials. The large number suggests the space was especially important for funeral practices, not just a single period of burial.
Could Mithridates VI’s palace really be buried at Balatlar? It is possible but unproven. Classical sources place the palace in this general area of Sinop. A statue of the king standing “in front of the palace” is mentioned in texts but has never been found. If archaeologists locate it, it would be one of Turkey’s most significant discoveries and would reshape understanding of Pontic history.
Why is Sinop important as an archaeological site? Sinop is one of the oldest continuously occupied port cities on the Black Sea coast. The town was settled by Ionian Greeks, became a major Pontic kingdom city under Mithridates VI, passed through Roman and Byzantine hands, and was contested between Seljuks and Byzantines. Its layered history mirrors the broader history of Anatolia.
What artifacts has the excavation recovered? According to provincial records, the site has produced over thirteen thousand artifacts—roughly two thousand on display in the Sinop Museum, eleven thousand in storage. These include pottery, tools, religious objects, skeletal remains, and architectural fragments spanning multiple civilisations.