Neophytos was born in Nicaea of Bithynia to Christian parents who were named Theodore and Florentia.
[1] During the Diocletianic Persecution he went to Nicaea and boldly denounced the pagan faith.
[2] He was killed by Roman soldiers in A.D. 303, 10 years before the Edict of Milan permanently established religious toleration for Christianity within the Roman Empire.
[4] In 2014 the underwater Byzantine Basilica of Saint Neophytos suspected to have been dedicated in his honour was discovered in Lake İznik, modern-day Turkey.
The basilica had been built in the place where he was killed on the shore of the lake and subsequently became submerged after an earthquake.