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HIP / ART RESOURCE, NY

FIRST COUNCIL. The first-ever ecumenical church council met in 325 CE in the city of Nicea (modern İznik in northwestern Turkey). Although its main outcome, the Nicene Creed, remains a founding document of Christian faith, the exact place where the proceedings took place was lost in the mists of time. Archaeological discoveries from Nicea are providing fresh clues about the location and significance of the church that reportedly hosted the high-stakes meeting presided over by Emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306–337). This 16th-century fresco from the Stavronikita Monastery in Greece depicts the famous assembly, with Constantine sitting in the center surrounded by the attending bishops.