Aqaba Church

The next position on the list of the oldest churches in the world is Aqaba Church. The third-century Aqaba Church is a revered historical building in Aqaba, Jordan. It is regarded as the oldest surviving purpose-built Christian church in the world and was discovered in 1998 by a team of archaeologists. Its initial construction was completed between 293 and 303, making it older than both the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, both of which were constructed in the late 320s.

It is believed that its remote location inside the Roman Empire prevented it from being destroyed during the Great Persecution, which broke out only a few years after the church was built. The structure was shaped like a sizable basilica with three aisles, a narthex, and an east-west axis. It had mud-brick on stone foundations, 85 feet (26 m) by 53 feet (16 m) in size, and had arched doors and what appeared to be a vaulted nave and aisles. It may have had a second story, based on the remains of a staircase. A rectangular apse followed a chancel area that marked the conclusion of the nave.

The foundations of a chancel screen, a collection box filled with cash, pieces of glass-made oil lamps, walls up to 4.5 meters (15 feet) high, a cemetery with 24 bones right next to the church, and more were all uncovered by archaeologists.

Location: Aqaba, Jordan