The church at the site is known as the Anchor Church, because of the discovery beneath its altar of a basalt stone weighing around half a ton and resembling an anchor in shape. This stone would appear to have been regarded as a sacred object in the Byzantine period, and to have been linked to Jesus’ activities around the Sea of Galilee.
The church building visible at the site today dates back to the second half of the eighth century, when the area was under Muslim rule. It was large, measuring twenty-eight meters in length, and constructed in the form of a basilica, with an aisle on each side of a central nave. The roof was supported by seven pairs of columns arranged in two rows; these have survived, together with their capitals.
