Octagonal Church 2

View looking northeast at the flooring of the outer portion of the “Octagonal Church” at Gadara. The black columns outline this octagon while the short white column is where the altar of the church was located.

This type of church was evidently a “pilgrimage church” although the reason for pilgrimage to this site is not known. Four tombs and five reliquaries (boxes, or places that contained boxes, that contain holy objects) were found in this church.

The church was probably destroyed in the massive earthquake of A.D. 749.