Basilica A'
at Sougia
The Basilica A' at Sougia
Many of the known archaeological sites at the south coastal line of the Chania prefecture preserve as well remains of religious edifices dated to the early Byzantine period (5th – 6th c. A.D.).
The Basilica A, at the western boundaried of the coastal settlement of Sougia, is an important religious building which was excavated and published by the academic A. Orlandos in the 1950s. It is included in the wider context of basilicas that their traces have been spotted in the past, together with scattered architectural remains, like the two-zone capital with doves currently exhibited at the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Collection of Chania.
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Basilica A was a three-aisled basilica with a narthex of the same width and dated to middle of the 6th c. A.D. A three-part building (possibly a baptestirio?) was next to the north aisle. Where the central aisle was situated it is now days built the church of Ag. Panteleimon. Outside the south aisle the cemetery of the settlement is organized. Possibly Basilica A was also a cemetery church, as attested by its position at the limits of the settlement and the existence of graves at a nearby plot to the east, within a built was associated with the Basilica.
Of great importance are the mosaic floors preserved at the central aisle and the narthex, presenting elaborated decorative patterns (e.g., geometric designs and scenes depicting deer with ivy stem, peacocks facing each other and a vase with stem in between them).
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Source: Ministry of Culture and Sports