Abstract
THE FRESCO WITH SAINT DEPICTED ON THE FORTIFICATIONS WALL OF NICAEA
The subject of the article is a fresco that was detected by a journalist in 2018 on a tower of the city walls of İznik. Only the horse's rump is preserved of the horse, whose tail is tied, can be selected on the fresco. In this paper, after a detailed introduction of the fresco, the purpose and the date of the fresco will be discussed. Also, who was depicted on the horse, and for what purpose it may have been included in the tower are examined.
The panel with the fresco is located on the road to the upper floor of the tower in the southeast corner of the city walls that surround the city, adjacent to the loophole where the guards were waiting. In this case, the question that awaits an answer, which saint is depicted on our fresco?
The fresco, which we think was made on a date after the 12th century, should belong to Saint Demetrios because a bay horse with a tied tail is depicted.
Keywords
Nicaea, Iznik, tower chapel, military saint, fresco, iconography.