The ruins of the Üçayak Byzantine Church as they appeared in 1900. The dome arches were destroyed in an earthquake in 1938.

The Byzantine name of the location of the church is unknown. Proposed names include Justinianopolis, Pteria, and Mokissos. Taburoğlu, the closest settlement to the church was known as Tabira in antiquity. It is widely speculated to have been dedicated to Emperors Basil II (976–1025) and Constantine VIII (976–1028).[1] Near the church, there is a water spring, but the absence of any human artefacts in the vicinity indicates that the church was built on a completely isolated and uninhabited area.[2] One suggestion is that it commemorated the victory of Basil II over Bardas Phokas.[3][4]

The remnants of the decorations of the facades, its sloping walls, and its architectural style led to its chronology being placed to late 10th or 11th centuries AD.[2] On the Yerköy road in the north of Kırşehir, an inscription gave the name of St. Lukianos.[5] The first report on the church was in 1842 by W. F. Ainsworth. His travel notes on the church were used by John Winter Crowfoot who visited the ruins in 1900, and were eventually published by Josef Strzygowski in 1903. The 1938 Kırşehir earthquake caused the dome arches of the church to collapse.[2]