Apollonia in Cyrenaica was founded by the Greeks as the port for the city of Cyrene, from which it is some 20 km. distant. In the Roman period its prosperity was such that it received autonomy and became one of the five cities of the Pentapolis; by the sixth century A.D. it had surpassed both Gyrene and Ptolemais in importance. Christian sources more commonly refer to Apollonia as ‘Sozusa,’ and it is from this Christian designation that the present Arab name of ‘Susa’ is derived.
Witness to Apollonia's nourishing Christian life are its extensive Byzantine remains. Among these figure at least four churches, three of which have now been excavated, and what is probably the palace of the governor of the Pentapolis himself, the most recent structure to have been uncovered. What follows is a report on the ‘West’ Church excavated by the Department of Antiquities of the Provincial Government of Cyrenaica during the spring, summer, and fall of 1958 and again in the spring and summer of 1959. The consolidation and reconstruction of the church were begun simultaneously with the excavation and are still in progress.
The West Church at Apollonia was first plotted by the Beecheys in 1821–1822. In their plan of Apollonia the church appears with a quite extensive forecomplex. Intervening time plus in some places an overlay of small Italian buildings completely obscured the outlines of the church and caused the forecomplex to disappear from view altogether. Yet excavation of the site has proved the Beecheys essentially correct.