'SIGNIFICANT' EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH EMERGES BENEATH FORMER FISH MARKET IN ANCIENT CITYHe added, "At the end of the first week, as we had hoped, we discovered that the floor paving continued beyond the existing church." Nicaea is famous for hosting the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. — the first-ever ecumenical council in Christian history. While that basilica has long been associated with the First Council of Nicaea, Şahin said the newly uncovered, smaller church beneath it is a more likely candidate. After uncovering evidence that the basilica had been built over an earlier church, Şahin said he was confident the Church of Saint Neophytos stood beneath the Church of the Holy Fathers and was the church that hosted the First Council of Nicaea. Last summer, archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Olympos in southern Turkey uncovered a fifth-century Christian church featuring a long-hidden inscription.