Early Christian Basilica of Saint Irene

One of the most important churches in Santorini, and perhaps the reason the Venetians gave the island this name (Santa Irene), is the now ruined middle-Byzantine (8th-9th century) two-aisled church of Saint Irene (Agia Eirini) in Perissa. In 1992, while underpinning the church, the ruins of a three-aisled basilica of the 5th century AD dedicated to Saint Irene (Agia Eirini) (with the central aisle 25 meters long) were discovered under the church. The ruins of the eastern aisle had been used to build the middle-Byzantine church. The floor of the basilica is now two meters below the ground. It is considered to be the same as the basilica of Saint Apollinarius of Ravenna, erected in 493 AD.