Capernaum - Octagon of Peter and insulae

Turning left and then right, we come to the "Insula Sacra", with the Octagon of Peter under its protective roof. The authenticity of this monument is established both by the literary sources and by archeological investigation. It is built over the remains of earlier houses, laid out in regular square blocks (insulae), the oldest of which date from the first century B.C. These were humble dwellings, with small rooms surrounding a courtyard in which was a hearth; the fishing hooks found in them suggest that they were occupied by fishermen. One of the houses was re-plastered at least three times, and on the remains of plaster were found 131 inscriptions in which the names of Christ and Peter frequently occur. It appears, therefore, that by the late first century the house was already revered as the house of the Apostle Peter. Around 350 the building was surrounded by an enclosure wall and was given a new roof supported on an arch. The pilgrim Aetheria noted in the late fourth century that the house of the Prince of the Apostles in Capernaum had become a church and that its walls remained unaltered. This indicates that it was then a domus-ecclesia, a private house used for Christian worship. Finally about 450 an octagonal church was built over the house (a round or octagonal building was the preferred form for a baptistery or - as here - a memoria). The mosaic pavement has a peacock, the symbol of immortality, in the center. The semicircular apse at the east end served as a baptistery. To the north of the Insula Sacra is another insula.