In its first construction phase, the building was part of a spacious early Byzantine-era church with a large semicircular apse (chord length 6.35 m) and side annexes. It was part of the early Byzantine settlement of the Asclepieion, but it remains unclear at this time whether it was the city’s oldest church following the earthquake of 365 AD. The site remained in use for approximately half a millennium. The building appears to have been destroyed before the 11th/12th century A.D., and a small cemetery chapel was built on its ruins. In addition to the numerous box-shaped tombs, the site also reveals remnants of agricultural and other activities.