The Great Basilica of Philippopolis in Plovdiv was probably the bishop's basilica, or cathedral. It was built in the mid-fourth century and abandoned in the late sixth century, probably after an earthquake. It is an early Christian basilica, about 86 meters long and 38 meters wide. A central nave and two side aisles, with a colonnade of 14 bays, lead to an apse at the east end. A narthex and a colonnaded atrium lie to the west.
Floor mosaics cover roughly 2,000 square meters, with geometric designs, eternal-knot motifs, water vases and birds. A coin of Licinius suggests it may have been among the first churches built after Christianity was legalized in 313, though this is a hypothesis.
It was excavated in 1982 to 1985 and again in 2015 to 2019, and a museum opened in 2021. It stands in central Plovdiv, next to the nineteenth-century Cathedral of St Louis.
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