Basilica of St. Reparatus Labyrinth

The earliest known labyrinth in a Christian church, dating to 324 CE — the very year Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea. This pavement mosaic near the entrance of the Basilica of St. Reparatus at Orleansville (modern Chlef, Algeria) measures approximately 2.4 meters wide. Its center contains a jeu-de-lettres puzzle on the words SANCTA ECLESIA, readable in any direction except diagonally. The Roman meander design adapted for Christian liturgical use marks the precise moment labyrinth symbolism transitioned from pagan to Christian. Giza bearing 291.88°.