The excavations carried in the ancient city of Phoenice from the 26 August until 6 October 2003, were concentrated in the eastern part of the acropolis, where the basilica is located. The excavations brought to light some very interesting data regarding the structure and shape of the monument. Thus in the northern part of the monument wall fragments relating to the cella / naos of the temple were discovered and which later transformed into elements of the baptistery. The wall was built with waste stone bonded with a very strong material. Excavations were also undertaken in the area between the basilica and the church and here interesting information relating to the transformation of courtyard F was recovered. Besides the excavation, restoration interventions were also undertaken, mainly in the area of the temple. The cella was covered with a temporary shelter and the walls cleaned. The same procedure was undertaken for the doorstep south of the temple.

The sondages undertaken during the year 2004 in the upper part of the city were followed by another in the palaeochristian basilica. The excavation was located in the area in front of the temple and the north-eastern vault of the basilica, originally excavated by Luigi Ugolini in 1926. The area has suffered heavy disturbance in recent times. The levels excavated by Ugolini revealed several very interesting structures, including traces of the baptistery fountain and a floor with brick tiles. A grave shaped feature was also noted, but its contents were missing.

The excavations in 2005 at the basilica at Phoenice were located mainly in three areas, namely the central and northern nave and the vault, revealing various structures and tombs. The floor was totally missing but the walls were preserved, complete with plaster. In the area of the vault numerous tombs and a wall, damaged after the Ugolini’s excavation, were recorded. In the central nave traces of the limestone pavement were found. The walls were poorly constructed. Elements of the northern transept and further tombs of similar construction were also recorded, for which no previous inventory exists.

In 2006 the main objective was to conclude the excavations at the byzantine basilica and provide new data to complement Ugolini. The excavation was concentrated in the overburden accumulated since the time of Ugolini and the opening of bunkers. The excavation provided interesting data relating to the overall plan of the monument, indicating that the basilica was divided in three naves. The existence of the transept was also confirmed along with the discovery of three new entrances. The excavation brought to light a number of architectural fragments from the Roman period which provide useful information concerning the original structure of the monument. A number of tombs similar to those discovered in the previous excavations were also recorded.

The excavations of the year 2008 in the early Christian basilica were located in two areas, in the north-western side of the north nave and the south-eastern part of the basilica. Two new rooms were revealed in the south-western part. The first room was of a quadrangle plan and has access into the narthex area. The authors of the excavation described it as a prothesis or a diaconicon. The second room was located in the northern nave and was probably used as a passageway that enabled the access from the church to the yard, which is found between the church and the temple or the baptistery. The second area of excavation is located in the south-eastern part of the basilica. At this second area the excavations were located in the cemetery, situated within the basilica. The grave good are almost absent. Two iron objects were found in one of the excavated graves. The burial rituals were of inhumation.

The field season of 2009 carried out in the Byzantine basilica of the acropolis of the ancient city of Phoinike focused on the excavation of the annexes on the northern and southern sides, aiming the discovery of the additional parts of the plan and the understanding of the earliest layers of the complex. Interventions were undertaken in trench SA 1, which was extended in the entire length of room B (longitudinal annex or the ambulatory in the northern aisles of the church). The investigations of 2008 carried out in this area, revealed under the destruction wall levels (US 67) and the covering layer (US 80), (which at a later phase, after the abandonment had been used as a funerary space), the original floor level. It was found at a level of 0, 51 m below the threshold of the basilica. Under the floor level, which was made of white pebble stones, the excavation of this year uncovered a layer (US 90) of Hellenistic materials. Artificial layers (US 95, 105) associated with the leveling of the area for the construction of the temple-thesaurus, during the Hellenistic period, were also identified. The lower layers (US 124, 125, 138) of the trench SA 5 excavated in room C of the northern aisles consisted of Hellenistic materials of the middle of the 3rd Century BC. Another trench (SA 4) was opened in room M, between the staircase of the thesaurus and the northern wall of room B. The excavation suggested that the areas has been used as a funerary space, perhaps since the displacement of the baptismal font on the northern side of the transept, at the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th Centuries AD, when the baptistery and room B were abandoned. Above the destruction layer (US 78), which relates to the final collapse of the basilica (after the 13th Century), levels of mixed and dense materials were discovered. The material consisted mainly of tiles which belonged to the above mentioned graves. In one of them, grave 67, found next to the thesaurus staircase, two rare types of small iron rings were uncovered. Parallel to the northern wall of room B, a structure (S 96) preserved at its foundations level was revealed. The building technique of the new structure appears the same with that of the basilica and its annexes: pieces of massive stones, tiles and bricks fragments bonded with thick and solid lime mortar, which suggested that this area might have been an additional part of the basilica. In room A, which might have been a _pastoforion_, _protheis_ or _diaconicon_, a trench SA 2 was opened. It revealed that the upper stratigraphic layers consisted of large masonry blocks collapsed during the military work of the 60’s of the last century. In the lower layers, which relate to the time of the collapse of the roof, two graves were identified, suggesting for the reuse of the area as a burial place. This area became part of the funerary space like the other annexes of the basilical complex. Under layers of plaster (US 120, 130) and tile fragments (US 132), the original floor level of compacted clay (US 135) of room A was discovered. The remaining carbon traces noticed in the floor layer which relates to the fallen roof, suggest that the collapse might have possibly happened due to a fire. The excavation of this area revealed a column and parts of a Corinthian capital of the 5-6th Centuries, probably belonging to the basilica, along with a marble sculpture of Artemis.

The aim of the excavations in the year 2012 was to clarify the layout and the state of preservation of the entrance of the Byzantine Basilica. In the entrance, was discovered a new space which served as an atrium with an internal portico of considerable size (about 17m in the east-west direction, 15.50m in the north-south direction) which communicated with the narthex through two entrances that corresponded to the side aisles of the basilica. In the outer part and northern side of this space, a series of walls with different chronologies and related to several rooms, whose function remains unknown, have come to light. So, as a result of the excavation carried out this year, it turns out that the Basilica of Phoinike (which dates back to the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 6th century) is a particularly monumental complex consisting of a structure with three aisles and a transept. To this system is added a narthex with two pastophoria and a large atrium, probably with colonnades on all four sides, which therefore seem to have been surrounded by internal porticoes. The construction technique is mainly with reused material, as evidenced by the old excavations of Luigi Ugolini, and confirmed by the new excavations. Interior decorations have largely been lost, but the few surviving remains suggest less than grand decoration compared to the complex architectural plan. This architectural ensemble, which probably extends further west, beyond the atrium, finds parallels with the monumental basilicas of Nikopolis or Bylis.