BIKE CLASSICAL: Seleucia ad Calycadnum (Part 2): Great Basilica and Underground Church of Saint Thecla, Acts of Paul and Thecla

Photos by Jack A. Waldron

Located approximately three kilometers south of the Temple of Jupiter at ancient Seleucia ad Calycadnum, is the Great Basilica of Saint Thecla, and the Underground Church of Thecla (36°21'49.6"N 33°55'53.8"E). When Thecla was a young woman, she listened from a window at her mother's house in Iconium (modern Konya), and heard the words of Paul the Apostle, who was preaching nearby at the house of Onesiphorus of Iconium. The young virgin was so enthralled by Paul's words, Thecla's mother Theocleia feared that her daughter would follow Paul and his insistence of recognizing only one god, and further, that chastity must be adhered to. Pictured above, a Byzantine era anchor on display at the Silifke Archeological Museum.

Together with her fiancé Thamyris, Theocleia inspired a mob to force Paul before the governor, who responded by imprisoning the orator. Bribing the guard, Thecla lay all night with Paul listening to him speak. The Sanctuary of Thecla (aka Meriamlik) was built upon during the 4C CE, and later during the 5C was either restored or expanded upon, or both, by the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno the Isaurian. The structure was built on top of the cave and sanctuary where Thecla is said to have lived most of her life, and also to have been buried.

Zeno the Isaurian took great interest in the site, and as a deposed Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (reigned 474-475 CE), he met Saint Thecla in a dream, who told him that he would once again rule as Emperor. Regaining the thrown of Emperor in 476 CE, Zeno the Isaurian honored Saint Thecla by commissioning the construction of the Aya Thecla Basilica, or the Great Basilica of Saint Thecla. Zeno then remained Byzantine Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire from 476-491 CE. Pictured below, a quarter of the once magnificent apse of the Basilica of Saint Thecla still stands.

The last standing remnant of the Basilica of Saint Thecla rises above the underground Church of Saint Thecla, and possible tomb of the Saint (pictured above and below). Finding her daughter with Paul, Theocleia convinced the governor to whip and banish the impious man. The governor agreed, but he also ordered Thecla stripped naked and to be burned at the stake.

The first miracle of Thecla would take place as she stood tied to the post with the flames approaching. Apparently, God saw fit to spare the girl, so he sent a great storm to douse the fire, thus Thecla was able to escape from Iconium and reunite with Paul outside the city. The Great Basilica once measured 55 meters in length, and 37 meters in width, with a roof covering three isles that was supported by two rows consisting of 15 columns in each row.

The site of the Basilica of Saint Thecla became a Christian pilgrimage destination during antiquity, and remains so today. Pictured below, two lion sculptures from the Byzantine period on display at the Silifke Archeological Museum.

The lion pictured in foreground has holes and slots just above its forelegs, and these may have once had wings fixed in them, as the lion itself symbolizes the strength of the word, while the wings elevate the word to the heavens. Perhaps the lion pictured above and below was a religious offering from the Venetians in honor of Saint Mark, who is said to have been visited by an angel in the form of a lion while he was taking refuge from a storm in Venice.

Thecla told Paul that she would follow him wherever he went, and so they made their way to Antioch in Pisidia (aka Antiochia in Pisidia, or the Latin name, Antiochia Caesareia/Antiochia Colonia Caesarea). Following their arrival, a nobleman named Alexander offered Paul money to buy Thecla, but telling the nobleman that he didn't know the girl, the nobleman tried to force Thecla to come with him. Thecla refused, and during the confrontation she assaulted the nobleman, who then dragged her before the governor for her crime. The governor passed judgment that Thecla was to be eaten by wild beasts in the arena.

The following day, Thecla was tied to a lioness and paraded through the streets of the city to the arena, where she was stripped naked to face the wild beasts. Now, it was time for the second miracle of Thecla. The lioness protected Thecla by killing a bear, and then killed a lion belonging to the nobleman, after which the lioness herself died. With regard to the Byzantine era lion sculpture pictured below, to my eye, this more represents a modern work of art than projecting the power of a fierce lion.

Thecla, believing that she would die without being baptized, threw herself into a pool that contained vicious hungry seals, but before they could eat her the pool was struck by lightning, thus killing all the seals, and now a third miracle surrounding Thecla had been performed.

Perhaps sculptures of beasts from the Byzantine period in general, represent the increasing distance between man and nature. With large populations moving to or near growing urban centers during the Roman and Byzantine periods, contact with such dangerous beasts, such as lions, became rare for most people. As a result, maybe the presentation of such beasts took on a greater artistic bent than during previous more rural periods. The lion sculpture here certainly isn't as scary as the beasts depicted on the T-shaped columns at Gobekli Tepe, or those that appear in sculptures and mosaics during the Hellenic or Early-Roman periods. Pictured below, I think this is a raking cornice fragment from a Byzantine period building, and appears to be decorated with a lion head.

Following her self-administered baptism, Thecla faced more wild beasts in the arena, however, the perfume scents wafting through the air from the women in attendance had a narcotic affect on the animals, thus her fourth miracle had come to be. The fifth miracle of the day would come in the form of fire, which spared her from a group of raging bulls. There's nothing like a good raging bull story to get you fired up for the messiah. Suddenly, Queen Tryphaena, who was in attendance, fainted, and was thought dead.

Water was supplied to the site through a series of aqueducts, which then filled a number of cisterns throughout the area. The best preserved cistern is located near the Basilica and Underground Church. Pictured below, the Great Cistern has a rectangular plan, is covered by three barrel vaulted stone block roofs that are supported by two inner colonnades consisting of four columns each.

The governor blamed the nobleman Alexander for the whole charade, and so, Alexander begged the governor to grant mercy on him. Thecla then spoke to the governor about Christ, and seeing the light, the governor ordered Thecla to be dressed and released. After reaching ancient Myra, Thecla disguised herself as a man, and then found Paul, who was surprised to see her alive.

To prevent leakage, the Great Cistern has inner brick walls that are approximately 1.7 meters thick that are covered with two layers of plaster. The external walls are built of cut and dressed stone blocks, otherwise known as ashlar masonry. The length dimensions of the inner walls are 12.2 meters by 14.6 meters, a space which gives an area of about 178 square meters, and about 1150 cubic meters for water storage. The columns you see in these photos are about 3.5 meters in height, and spaced approximately 2.3 meters apart. The Great Cistern at the site of the Basilica of Saint Thecla truly was a life giving miracle to those who depended on its water.

Thecla would eventually return to Iconium, where she would go on to convert her mother to Christianity, before landing in Seleucia ad Calycadnum. Here, she may have lived in a cave for the next seventy-two years, where she taught, and performed healing miracles for the local residents. Her medical miracles angered the physicians of the city, who are said to have hired men to attack her, or even rape the ninety year old Thecla.

Pictured above and below, these are Byzantine period grave stele on display at the Silifke Archaeological Museum. In the relief on the stele below, it's almost like a depiction of Thecla administering her healing powers on the deceased, well, before the deceased eventually passed.

Pictured below, this is a Late-Byzantine period sun dial from between the 5C and 7C CE. Byzantine period sculptures and functional items such as this sun dial are so interesting when compared to earlier Roman and Hellenic sculptures, which were much more refined, sculpted and finished to present real life accuracy, as well as the beauty of nature. Whereas, Byzantine period relief longs to impose human interpretation onto natural things, forcing nature to take on the shape of the imagination of each individual artist.

The men who were hired to attack Thecla went to her cave, where they found her deep within the underground chamber. However, before they could reach the woman, a passage opened in the cave wall through which she disappeared. With the stone wall having closed behind her, she was able to escape, and so, yet another miracle had been performed. Some report that all that remained following her vanishing act, was her cloak, which had turned into stone.

Word of Thecla's numerous miracles spread within Christian communities far and wide, thus turning her cave into a secret meeting place for Christians, and finally into a destination for pilgrims. The cave sanctuary, and/or Church of Saint Thecla was first mentioned in 374 CE. From then on, the monastic sanctuary grew into a major site of worship, and numerous buildings were constructed during the centuries to follow, including the massive Great Basilica of Saint Thecla.

There is also a claim that Saint Thecla was buried in Maalula, Syria, where there is still a monastery dedicated to her, which is called the Monastery of Saint Thecla (33°50'49.4"N 36°32'48.8"E). It too remains a pilgrimage destination till this day. In the photo below, you can see the entrance to the underground Church of Saint Thecla, which is said to be the location of the cave where she lived, and where she performed her life saving miracles. Rising above the entrance out of the photo to the right is the last remaining height of the apse of the Basilica of Saint Thecla, which unfortunately, I did not catch both together in a single photo.

Eventually, as stories of Thecla morphed into the canon of Christian folklore, Thecla was recognized by both the Eastern Orthodox Christians and the Catholic Christians as a saint. Pictured below, wooden steps take visitors down to the narthex of the sanctuary. I did notice some hints of plaster and paint, or coloring, and I wonder if the space had been more elaborately decorated with Christian iconography at some point during the past.

At the bottom of the staircase and turning to the right, you can see the naos/nave opening up beyond the narthex and through some column supported archways. The space is quite expansive, and I can see how one might easily perform a disappearing act through a hidden passage or two.

There are several walled off cells along the route that eventually takes you to the altar. These cells played an active roll in the prayer functions and teachings within the underground church during its early active life. The cave ceiling is supported by a series of stone walls and columns, which appear to have been quarried from older structures and repurposed to support the ceiling, which would have certainly been necessary considering the weight of the enormous basilica that was built above these underground chambers.

We know of an early pilgrim to the sanctuary, because the middle section of a diary written by a European woman who visited the site in 384 CE was discovered within the Codex Aretinus at the monastic library in Arezzo, Italy, in 1884 by Italian scholar Gian Francesco Gamurrini. Pictured below is a book that contains the translations of the very rare text, that also includes writings about the woman's stop at Seleucia ad Calycadnum, and the Sanctuary of Saint Thecla.

She was a wealthy woman named Egeria, or Etheria, and she had made a fantastic pilgrimage to many holy sites throughout the Levant of the Eastern Mediterranean, when upon her return to Europe, she made her pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Thecla. The section of her diary that discusses her visit to the site is as follows:

'THE PILGRIMAGE OF ETHERI'

M. L. McClure and C. L. Feltoe, ed. and trans.
London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1919.

VISIT TO S. THECLA'S CHURCH. RETURN TO CONSTANTINOPLE

"So, setting out from Tarsus, I came to a certain city on the sea, still in Cilicia, which is called Pompeiopolis. Thence I entered the borders of Hisauria and stayed in a city called Coricus, and on the third day I arrived at a city which is called Seleucia in Hisauria: on my arrival I went to the bishop, a truly holy man, formerly a monk, and in that city I saw a very beautiful church. And as the distance thence to saint Thecla, which is situated outside the city on a low eminence, was about fifteen hundred paces, I chose rather to go there in order to make the stay that I intended. There is nothing at the holy church in that place except numberless cells of men and of women. I found there a very dear friend of mine, to whose manner of life all in the East bore testimony, a holy deaconess named Marthana, whom I had known at Jerusalem, whither she had come for the sake of prayer; she was ruling over the cells of apotactitae and virgins. And when she had seen me, how can I describe the extent of her joy or of mine? But to return to the matter in hand: there are very many cells on the hill and in the midst of it a Great Wall which encloses the church containing the very beautiful memorial. The wall was built to guard the church because of the Hisauria, who are very malicious and who frequently commit acts of robbery, to prevent them from making an attempt on the monastery which is established there. When I had arrived in the Name of God, prayer was made at the memorial, and the whole of the acts of saint Thecla having been read, I gave endless thanks to Christ our God, who deigned to fulfill my desires in all things, unworthy and undeserving as I am."

Thecla is honored as "protomartyr" in the East as well as in the West on September 23rd or 24th. Tradition calls her a disciple of Saint Paul at Iconium, but places her grave (as here) at Seleucia in Isauria. Justinian built a church in her memory at Constantinople. The Anc. Syr. Mart. does not mention her. See Introduction, pp. xxix f.

'Apotactitae' are mentioned by Etheria in her diary, and, that the "holy deaconess Marathana" was leading a cell within the underground church. Apotactics, or Apotactites were a Christian sect that began practicing in the 3C CE in Asia Minor, and continued practicing in parts of Cilicia through the 4C CE, when Etheria made her pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Thecla, or the underground Church of Thecla. Apotactics/Apotactites probably occupied the cells of the underground church, as well as caves throughout the area, because their practice renounced the ownership of all private property. The name 'Apotactics/Apotactites' comes from how they perceived the Twelve Apostles, as they strived to live in the same manner as them. Apotactics/Apotactites avoided meat and wine, and they also abstained from marriage. Furthermore, their Biblical canon included the Acts of Thomas, and the Acts of Andrew. Pictured above and below, two lamps from the Byzantine period (Silifke Archeological Museum). Such lamps as these would have kept the religious cells of the underground Church of Saint Thecla bright for those who worshiped there.

Pictured below, a Byzantine period mold, which is actually labeled as a 'pattern' ('kalip'), which with its Christian reliefs was probably used to press images into clay (Silifke Archeological Museum). This relief could have seen a second life as a decoration, and may have been set in or on a wall to greet worshippers, hence the ware from touching on the christ figure.

It must be said, that we really don't know the true location of Thecla's cave, but from what I have read, the cave was eventually turned into a church, which would support its current location. The transition from cave to church may have seen some expansion of the subterranean space, and even the main entrance used today could have been added at a later date, meaning there may be other entrances and exits to the cave.

Pictured above and below, this is a very interesting Early-Byzantine altar that incorporates a pagan temple pediment, with what looks like a relief of the Holy Chalice (blood of Christ) and an offering of bread (the body of Christ), or, perhaps the Star of Bethlehem (Silifke Archeological Museum).

The inscription 'EYXHN' at the bottom of the altar is Ancient Greek, which translates into English as 'My Prayer', or 'My Vow', or, 'My Wish'. This is also interesting, because this inscription can also be found on altars dedicated to the ancient Roman and Greek pantheons of gods and goddesses. Pictured below, I am standing in the nave/naos of the underground Church of Saint Thecla, and am looking through to the altar within the apse.

The marble slab with Christian relief in the photo below is described as an "architectural piece", and certainly it is, but how was this piece used? I have described in some previous posts on how elaborate Byzantine church altars may have been constructed, and to my eye, I think this is the frontal slab of a large rectangular altar, and would have faced the congregation in the nave/naos. If you would like to see more examples of such pieces, please take a look at my post on ancient Barata (aka Binbir Kilise).

The altar of the underground Church of Saint Thecla would never have been as elaborate as the one pictured above, and the reason for this is, the worshippers who gathered here during the 1C CE would have been doing so secretly, and were not supported or sanctioned by the ruling elite. However, the Great Basilica of Saint Thecla that was built over the underground church during the 5C, probably would have had such an altar.

As you can see from the label below, the Christian pieces in the photo range from the 4-15C CE, and all are said to be Byzantine (Silifke Archeological Museum). Unfortunately, the museum does not give any specifics on where these artifacts were found.

Pictured below, this is a mold from the Byzantine period, though I don't know if this was a glass mold, or a clay mold (Silifke Archeological Museum). Found in the area of Silifke, the Christian theme of the mold is obvious, but is it possible that this is a depiction of Saint Thecla blessing, or healing a Christian pilgrim? I think I can translate the backward Ancient Greek text on the mold, with the top line 'EYAΓ' meaning, 'MESSENGER', or 'ANGEL', and the second line 'ΓEΛIM' meaning, 'TO THINK WORTHY', or 'TO DEEM WORTHY'. Please offer your translations in the comments section, because I am not an Ancient Greek aficionado.

Further, there appears to be a lit torch at the top of the mold, which in the Christian Bible symbolizes life, immortality, the light of the spirit of God, and Christ. The torch also radiates outward, here in this scene striking the kneeling Christian follower, and thus causing the darkness to disappear. Through the act of kneeling, bowing their head, and crossing their arms on the chest, the follower in the scene is showing reverence, and a desire to communicate humbleness before the Heavenly Father, God, and Christ. Pictured below, a photo looking back through the nave/naos toward the entrance to the underground Church of Saint Thecla.