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Garo Nalbandian

ANOTHER MARTYRIUM. The octagonal plan of the Kathisma Church is very similar to that of another Christian martyrium: the house of St. Peter in Capernaum. The New Testament records that Jesus stayed here when he was in Capernaum. As early as the second half of the first century, the house that stood here was being given special treatment, and it may have served as a house church for early Christians. In the mid-fifth century an octagonal church was built directly on top of the foundation walls of the house, in order to preserve the exact location of the holy site.