The Byzantine-era church in Nahariya that had been hit by a Hezbollah rocket in April has reopened to the public, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced in a Monday night social media post.
In the months since, teams from the Nahariya municipality had worked to restore the damaged structure so that visitors would be able to return and visit the site, the IAA said.
The church, rediscovered by the municipality in 1964, is home to a colorful mosaic floor dating to roughly 550 CE. Originally destroyed by the Persians in 614 CE, it was painstakingly restored by the IAA over the course of two years, and officially opened to the public in 2022.
At the time, the IAA had shared with The Jerusalem Post that only the site’s modern, protective structure had been damaged in the strike.
An on-site assessment conducted by a team of archaeologists and conservators from the IAA, along with representatives from the local municipality and the Israel Tax Authority, showed that while the mosaic floor was covered in debris from the damaged protective structure, it had not been damaged itself.
Mosaic depicts colorful animals, symbols of Christianity
Signs of the mosaic’s original destruction at the hands of the Persians can still be seen, as it is stained black and white in places, and large amounts of molten lead were found at the site.
The mosaic itself stretches over more than 500 square meters, and is richly decorated in greens, reds, yellows, browns, whites, and blacks.
It has over 100 medallions, of which 87 survived, depicting scenes of daily life, including animals, humans, hunting scenes, grapes, pomegranates and symbols of Christianity.
In the center of the floor is a stunning rosette with an optical three-dimensional illusion, which has survived the centuries almost in its entirety.
“From the decorations of the basilica, we see that the person who built it was very wealthy and invested a lot of money to build it,” IAA regional director Kamil Sari explained in 2022, adding that an inscription in old Greek indicates the church was built by the archbishop of Tyre, modern day Sidon, Lebanon.
The church complex had been built on the remains of an earlier temple from 4,500 years ago.
Judith Sudilovsky contributed to this story.
