Venta Belgarum 144 acres (58 ha), making it among the largest towns in Roman Britain by surface area. The city had many fine Roman town houses or "domus", as well as public buildings and Roman temples. Like many other Roman towns however, Winchester began to decline in the later fourth century. The forum-basilica appears to have included a temple to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva along with an accompanying Jupiter Column. Elsewhere, there was a Romano-British style temple dedicated to the Celtic horse goddess, Epona. There was a large Romano-British cemetery to the north of the town, at Lankhills, and another to the
Venta Silurum Roman temple, perhaps dedicated to Mars and the Celtic god Ocelus, have been identified on the site. A bowl with a chi-rho symbol shows that the worship of early Christian worship had begun in the late 3rd century. Following the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain, the town remained occupied until at least the mid-5th century. Early Christian worship was still established. The town might have had a bishop. A monastery was founded by Saint Tatheus in the 6th century. The site of the present church occupies part of an early Christian cemetery. The name "Venta" gave its name