Germia 2010. The Byzantine Pilgrimage Site and Its History

Survey in Germia (modern Yürme, Gümüşkonak). Conservation of vault mosaics in the church of St Michael. The building was originally a five-aisled basilica and was turned into a domed cross church in the Middle Byzantine period. This involved vaulting the inner aisles, and the vaults were covered with mosaics. The mosaic decoration consists of both ornamental and floral motifs (125-130 T/dm2) [fig 2, 3]. The tesserae consist of stone, marble, and glass. In some areas where the tessellatum has fallen, the three-layered plaster bedding with the imprint of tessellation and traces of preparatory drawings can be observed. During geophysical prospection, a round church with mosaics and architectural sculpture was identified. A large number of glass tesserae indicate that the vaulting was decorated with mosaics. The complex is probably a katholikon of the monastery of St Constantine and is dated to the Early Byzantine period.