Material and construction techniques from Episkopeion (Episcopal residence) in Myra–Demre St. Nicholas Church's excavation

The material-technical features of the Episkopeion which is located in the Myra St. Nicholas Monastery Complex; were evaluated with the help of architectural, historical and archaeological data and dating suggestions were made by comparing them with similar examples in the region. At the same time, material production and use in the Byzantine Period was investigated and the material sources of the building were discussed. Episkopeion was built in a rectangular floor plan in the north-south direction next to the episcopal church of the city. In its current form it has appearance of two floors, but the lower floor was not used while the upper floor was being built. The building which takes its main form on the upper floor, consists of six rectangular spaces in the north-south direction separated from each other by walls. The building must have been used from the Early Byzantine Period to the end of the Middle Byzantine Period. During this time, four major changes were made in the building. Its first construction is dated to the 6th century and the upper floor took its main form in the second construction stage in the 11th century. After the second construction stage before the second half of the 13th century, it went through two more construction processes, and new spaces were created within the building by reducing the large halls. At the beginning of the second half of the 13th century great calamity occurred in the city, and the Episkopeion remained under the 5-6-meter alluvial soil. It was unearthed during the excavations started in the building in 1995; Apart from the cover and transition systems, it has reached the present day with its body and partition walls. The Episkopeion was built mostly of stone, less amount of brick and few spolia. Almost all of the material constituting the structure was obtained from local formations. The binder of the building blocks is mortar. Lime was used as a binder in the mortar, river sand was used as an additive, and pebbles, terracotta and plant fibers were used as aggregates. With the help of the material found in the excavations, it was understood that there was a brick covering system on the wooden skeleton. The few brick pieces seen in the masonry of the building were used as spolia during the construction process. Spolia use was similarly seen in stone building material. The materials and construction techniques seen in the Episkopeion show a certain parallelism with the Byzantine Period examples both in the monastery and in the region.