The Rediscovered Byzantine Church at Tabgha

A gleaming white limestone church stands today on the Byzantine foundations of the fifth-century basilica built to commemorate the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Enclosed within the church are the beautiful mosaics illustrated in this article.

The church was reconstructed to resemble its original appearance. Walls were rebuilt on excavated wall remains; columns were placed in their original positions. The restored column capitals were decorated following the design of a capital found at Susita, a contemporaneous Byzantine site on the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee. The red roof tiles were modeled to resemble late Roman period roof tiles.

In the view of the basilica shown here, we are looking across the atrium at the narthex, illuminated by light from five arched windows in the church’s east wall. An ancient black basalt olive press discovered among the church’s ruins in 1932 now presides over the rebuilt atrium.