Hilken Doač Boran i Esra Jalčinap
Istanbul, Iznik
At first glance, there is little to suggest that the quiet Turkish town of Iznik, about a two-hour drive from Istanbul, was the place where the course of history was changed.
Half an hour is enough to tour the city of 45.000 inhabitants and stroll through its picturesque narrow streets with balconies covered in roses and ivy.
One can reach the shores of Lake Iznik and see almost no traces anywhere that this place was once the capital of both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires.
However, this week Iznik, once called Nicaea, will host Pope Leo the Fourteenth.
It will be his first trip abroad since he was inaugurated as head of the Roman Catholic Church in May 2025.
The main reason for his visit is a ceremony that the pope will attend together with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and other Christian leaders, marking 1.700 years since the First Council of Nicaea, held in 325.
This visit was originally planned by the late Pope Francis, who passed away in April.
After the death of Pope Francis, the ceremony was postponed.
"One of the deepest wounds in the life of the Church today is the fact that as Christians we are divided," Pope Leo XIII said in an interview published in September.
He emphasized that he particularly encourages the commemoration of the anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea because he sees it as a common gathering point for different Christian denominations.
Leo XIV will be the fifth pope to visit Turkey.
There are no official figures on the number of Christians in Turkey, but a 2023 report by the United States (US) State Department stated that there were around 150.000, an estimate based on numbers reported by Christian communities themselves.
The Pope will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish capital Ankara on November 27th, and travel to Iznik the day after.
But why is Iznik such an important place for Christians?
Watch a video about Leo the Fourteenth's first foreign visit
A turning point
The answer lies in the 4th century, when the First Council of Nicaea was held.
The Roman Empire then stretched from Scotland to the Red Sea and from Morocco to the deserts of present-day Syria, Jordan and Iraq.
At its head was Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor.
He gave Christians the broadest rights they had had since the death of Jesus Christ three centuries earlier, allowing them to openly profess their faith.
Constantine the Great wanted to gather the clergy and resolve disagreements regarding religious matters.
The council held in 325 was a turning point in both Roman and Christian history.
The clergy originally decided to meet in present-day Ankara, but Emperor Constantine ordered them in a letter to come to Nicaea, Turhan Kacar, a historian at Mugla University, told Sitki Kocman for the BBC Turkish service.
Emperor Constantine wanted to personally preside over the council, Kačar points out.
"He knew from previous church gatherings that the bishops would quarrel if left to their own devices," he adds.
With the First Council of Nicaea, Constantine the Great turned religion into an "instrument of the state," the historian believes.
"When the bishops came to Nicaea, they were representatives of their communities, and when they returned to their hometowns, they were representatives of the state."
It was at this council that "the church began to cooperate with the state," believes Paolo Rafaele, abbot of the Catholic Church of St. Stephen in Istanbul.
The council helped define the key teachings of Christianity and it was at Nicaea that a consensus was reached on the divine nature of Jesus Christ, he told the BBC Turkish service.
It was established that there is one God who is eternal and has three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Nicene Creed, the official, concise text of the confession of the Christian faith, was adopted.
The affirmation of the divine nature of Jesus Christ was a key moment in the fight against the so-called "Arian heresy," which denied that Jesus was God.
Pope Leo XIV said that the dispute over these teachings was "one of the greatest crises of the first millennium of the Church", emphasizing the importance of the First Council of Nicaea.
"For Christians, this is the very center of our faith," Rafael says of the outcome of the council.
The teachings agreed upon at the Council have survived to this day, points out Metropolitan Maximus of Silivri.
Iznik is considered a holy pilgrimage site for Christians around the world, he adds.
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The common denominator of all churches
The celebration of the 1.700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea is an opportunity for Christians to celebrate an important symbol of universality in the church.
At the time of the First Council of Nicaea, the Christian church was not yet divided into Catholic and Orthodox, so this historical event is considered a "platform for unification" in modern spiritual circles, notes Professor Kačar.
The First Council of Nicaea is "the common denominator of all Christian churches that profess their own beliefs today, as in the past," says Metropolitan Maximus.
He also emphasizes that the pope's visit and the ceremony marking the anniversary of the council will highlight "the historical and cultural heritage of the region and Turkey."
The ceremony in Iznik will be held near the archaeological site of the Basilica of Saint Neophyte, which is on the shores of the lake.
This building could be the church called the Church of the Holy Fathers in theological sources, named after the clergy who participated in the First Council of Nicaea, says Mustafa Şahin, a professor at Bursa University, who is leading the archaeological excavations in Iznik.
It is one of the possible places where the council could have been held 1.700 years ago, he points out.
Many believe that the First Council of Nicaea took place outside the city walls and by the lake, but archaeological research has so far failed to confirm this assumption.
The basilica was built later, towards the end of the 4th century, and may have been erected on the site where the Romans are believed to have executed Saint Neophytos while he was trying to spread Christianity at the beginning of that century, Şahin told the BBC Turkish service.
The council could also have been held in the imperial palace, which has not yet been discovered, he added.
Speaking about his visit to Turkey, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of Iznik, both in the past and today.
"Some initially imagined a meeting between Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and me."
"I asked that this meeting in Iznik be an ecumenical opportunity to invite Christian leaders from many different Christian religions or Christian communities."
"Since Nicea is a symbol of faith, it is one of those moments when we can all make a common statement of faith before various divisions arise."
Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Mass for around 6.000 faithful on November 29th, and travel to Lebanon the day after.
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Bonus video:
