Edifici ecclesiastici protobizantini poco noti della “penisola” di Elaiussa Sebaste

The so-called “Peninsula”, the primitive core of the city of Elaiussa Sebaste, was fortified in Late Antiquity. It housed some unexcavated Christian buildings that are quite neglected. Well before the launching of systematic excavations by the Italian Archaeological Mission (1995), the remains of at least one church had been made known thanks to short notes published by Josef Keil, Adolf Wilhelm, Otto Feld and Ernst Kirsten. Later, in 1986, Hansgerd Hellenkemper and Friedrich Hild were able to survey three medium-sized basilicas on the spot. They appeared to be set in a dense urban canvas and their layout was somehow influenced by pre-existing buildings. These churches are only barely recognisable today, victims of marine erosion, collapse or wind siltation. This notwithstanding, they provide the evidence of the vitality of the centre of Elaiussa in the early Byzantine period. This article aims to document their present state and to put forward some thoughts on their relevance for the knowledge of the late antique city.