The historic mosaic decorates the floor of the church of St. George. It was discovered in 1884 during the construction of a new temple. It shows a map of the Middle East from the Byzantine period. It was laid out in the 6th century, which makes it the oldest preserved mosaic map.
The map shows the area from Lebanon to the Nile Delta and from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the Syrian Desert. A total of 150 locations have been marked on it, incl. Jericho and Bethlehem An important element of the mosaic is the detailed presentation of Jerusalem and its individual buildings, including the Damascus Gate, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher and the Citadel of David. The map has been used many times by archaeologists to find the locations of biblical sites.
Originally, the mosaic was 21 meters long and 7 meters wide. The map that we can see today is smaller, measures 16 meters long and 5 meters wide.
Attractions inside
