The hidden church built during the Roman period when the first Christians were heavily oppressed and persecuted, surprise those who visit it.
One of the greatest civilizations of the history, the Roman Empire appeared on the stage of history in the 700 BC and had reached a wide range from Europe to Mesopotamia. The Roman Empire which was divided into two as Eastern and Western Empires, hosted many different ideas.
In the first years of the spread of Christianity, the Roman believers faced harsh sanctions and as a result of this, Christian communities had to do their worship in a secret way. The hidden church in Phrygian Valley in the borders of Ihsaniye district of Afyonkarahisar can be considered as an example of this.
The hidden church, which is supposed to have been built in the late Roman period has very surprising signs about this period. Phrygian Valley Guide Tanju Tetik gave this information about the church: “We are 1 kilometer from Üçlerkayası Village. This is a chapel.Itis estimated to have been built in the 2nd century in the Late Roman Period. It is a church secretly built during the times when Christianity was banned in the Roman Empire. There is a point where the clergy was preaching in the church. There are two small windows and an arched door. There is also a small pit at the entrance. Holy water is placed in this pit, and young children were being baptized in this water. In terms of safety, they have paid close attention to confidentiality. They built it up very secretly, so that people who didn’t know its place, couldn’t find it by chance. At that time, the safety of Christians was very important; because those who were converted to Christianity were being punished by execution in the Roman Empire. Therefore, they have hidden their places of worship so that they could perform their worship secretly.”
