Eastern basilica - City - About Chersonesos, Sevastopol

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[Sector 1]
Tower of Zeno
Citadel
Arched niches church
Barracks
City gates
Crypts
Southeastern line of defense

[Sector 2]
The Church of Saint Volodymyr
Ancient square
Main street
House of the 4th - 3rd cc. BC
Eastern basilica
Cave church
Uvarov basilica
Baptistery
Sixbased church
Northern basilica
Bell
Hostel
Hospice
Residential block and chapel
Kruze basilica
Artillery battery
Church in block 7

[Sector 3]
Theater
City cistern complex
Fourapsed church
Western line of defense
Mint
Reliquary church
Fiveapsed church

[Sector 4]
House with winepress
Fishsalting cisterns
1935 basilica
1932 basilica
Basilica in the basilica
Arched church
Basilica on the hill
Western basilica
Defensive moat and gate
Residential blocks
Necropolis of the first cc. AD

Eastern basilica
As a result of coastal erosion, which resulted in the collapse of the eastern section of the church, practically nothing remains of this structure. The stone walls and marble columns have disappeared. Even those parts of the church which remain undamaged are covered with grass to the extent that it is hardly possible to determine the plan and size of the building. This church was uncovered in 1876 during excavations by the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities and was studied in 1908 by R. Kh. Leper.

The church was probably built in the late 6th or 7th centuries and was one of the largest in the city. It is 32 meters long and 15 meters wide. The reconstruction by Yu. G. Lositsky demonstrates that the western facade of the basilica faced the main street. This facade was decorated with the four-column portico of the exonarthex, the exterior vestibule of the church, whence parishioners entered the interior vestibule, or narthex. Two rows of columns divided the church into three longitudinal halls: the nave and two side aisles. The nave was approximately 9 meters wide; it ended in a semicircular apse, the area containing the altar. The floor of the church was covered with mosaics in a simple geometric design of transverse circles. A cruciform memorial church connected to the northern aisle of the basilica was used until the 10th century.

The steep promontory which in antiquity supported a section of the defensive wall and the basilica today affords a pleasant view of the bay, the open sea, and northern Sevastopol.

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