The first temple, therefore, in which the profanity of idolatry in this country began to be abolished, was consecrated in the first church by the bishop, Marcus Galileus, to the Prince of the Apostles, St Peter, in the eighth year of his martyrdom, and is found to have been of Jupiter, as the Chronicle of the City of Atina itself, recorded in Chapter 7 of the first book, relates:
Templum denique, quod Jovis dicebatur, quod, juxta Domum suam, Palatianus habuerat, octavo anno post passionem Apostoli, in eius consecravit honorem; in qua nimirum Ecclesia septem Presbiteros, totidemq; Diaconos ordinavit.
The author of the Catalogue of the Bishops of Atina, while discussing Marco Galileo himself, also said.
Et ipse erepto Idolo del Templo Jovis, in Ecclesiam consecravit, ad honorem Magistri sui, Apostoli Petri.
Besides the ancient Martyrology of the Church of Atina, which reads.
Pridie Non. Julii, hic in Atina, Dedicatio Ecclesie S. Petri, quam Beatus Martyr, et Pontifex, Marcus, primum in hac Urbe, octavo anno post passionem ejusdem Apostoli, et Magistri fui, in ejus dedicavit honorem.
Adenulfo, Archbishop of Capoa, describing the Martyrdom of St. Mark Galileo, the first Bishop of our homeland, confirms the above.
Templum denique Idolorum, quod idem Palatianus, juxta domum suam, habuerat, congesta in unum Simulacrorum omnium multitudine, atque contrita, ad honorem Santissimi sui Magistri, Apostolorum, videlicet, Principis, Templum Jesu Christo Deo, Sanctus Episcopus venerabiliter consecravit.
There is no record of whether this temple was larger than the one we see today; it is sufficient that it is standing today in the said city, and having been donated by Bishop Leo to the Chapter of Atina, it gives the title to one of the canons of its Collegiate Church.
