Overview

During a road renovation in 1963, a Latin cross building with a polygonal apse was discovered, which had been built in two phases between the beginning of the 5th and the beginning of the 6th century. The mosaic pavement is particularly noteworthy: in the first phase it had black and white geometric patterns, while in the second (at a level only 6 cm higher) there were polychrome motifs in pelta, double-headed braid and intersecting rhombuses. A unique feature of the more recent mosaic is the abundance of inscriptions traced with the tiles in the floor, also visible in the fragments torn from the original location and hung on the walls of the entrance to the site. These writings included the names and professions of fourteen benefactors, some of whom were of senatorial rank and others had a connection to the local economy, including those of eastern origin. In the past, the early Christian basilica in Via Madonna del Mare was also characterised by the presence of the bones of martyrs, their identity unknown, making it one of the most important meeting places of Trieste's first Christian community.