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A picture from above looking north and down on to the full length of the Church of Mary. The remains of the church are just above the center of the picture and stretch across the full length of the picture! All totaled it was 380 ft. long!
On the left (west) was the Atrium and on the right (east) was the chancel area and the apse.
The Church of Mary is a very long and narrow structure that was built in the late fifth-century. It was built over the southern stoa of an older Imperial Complex (Temple of Hadrian Olympios/Olympieion) and thus it is long and narrow. On the west was an atrium that measured 140 x 82 ft. To the east of that was a transverse narthex and to the east of that a long three-aisled church hall that measured 240 x 95 ft. with an apse on the east end.
After the earthquake in AD 557, it was rebuilt and the long central church was divided into two churches. The latest rebuilding was in the seventh century but St. John's Basilica became the focal point of worship in the region. In the middle ages, the area was used as a burial ground.
