How to Read the Plans
These plans show the archaeological remains of structures from the first to the fifth centuries found at the site of St. Peter’s House at Capernaum.
In the first century the simple house of Peter occupied the site. Later in the first century the central room of Peter’s house became the venerated room of a house-church. In the fourth century, an arch-supported roof was constructed over the room and a wall was built around the entire complex. In the fifth century, the foundations of the venerated room lay beneath the center of a church composed of two complete concentric octagons and a third incomplete octagon; the innermost octagon included eight square pillars supporting arches which, in turn, supported a domed roof.
In the gray plan (top) we see the remains of the first century house of Peter. The dark blue plan (above) shows the remains of the fourth century house-church. The arrows in this plan point to the basalt piers on which rested a two-story arch supporting the roof over the venerated room. Many of the walls used in the first century continued in use in the fourth and, therefore, are visible in both plans.
In the plan above we see three layers of superimposed remains: gray is again used for structures from the first century; dark blue for structures added in the fourth century; and light blue for structures added in the fifth century. In order to see all the remains in use at each period it is necessary to look at the top plan for the first century, the second plan for the fourth century, and all walls enclosed in black lines in the plan above for the fifth century. The enclosure wall of the entire complex, although built in the fourth century, was also used in the fifth century. The plan above shows certain walls in gray which, although built in the first century, were also used in the fourth century (as can be seen in the second plan).