Nearby were a number of small chapels and at least one old basilica.

We pulled to a halt beside the colonnade of an old basilica and pitched our tents for the night.

It was built from 553 on the site of the older basilica that had become dilapidated.

By the end of the 15th century (1400s), the old basilica was falling to pieces.

When Michelangelo took over a building site in 1547, the nave of the old basilica was still standing and in use.

There were four of the most enormous piers in the world standing where the western part of the old basilica had been.

On February 18 1606, workmen began to pull down the rest of the old basilica.

The most precious painting is a small icon of the Madonna, removed from the old basilica.

The old basilica is a modest church in the colonial style built between 1834 to 1888.

The size of the old basilica clearly indicates that there was quite a large settlement at the time.