The City Beneath the City

Beneath modern İzmit in Türkiye lies the remains of ancient Nicomedia, transformed by Diocletian into an imperial capital in the late third century CE, after Rome and before the foundation of Constantinople. Yet despite its historical importance, remarkably little of the city has been archaeologically visible. Recent discoveries, including a monumental imperial complex decorated with spectacular painted marble reliefs and sculptures, are radically changing this picture and providing new insights into Late Roman visual culture. This talk introduces ARCON (After Rome, Before Constantinople), our ongoing project investigating Nicomedia through archaeology, heritage science, archival research and digital mapping. It presents our latest discoveries and efforts to reconstruct the ancient urban landscape, while exploring the challenges of investigating and protecting an archaeological city buried beneath a rapidly developing modern one.

The AWRC have reserved a Lunch Table in Hall for Cluster members from 12.30. Lunch will be an opportunity to meet our speaker Tuna Șare Ağtürk. Tuna's talk will start at 13.15 in the Levett Room, and will be catered with tea/coffee and cakes (all welcome)