of these doors are now open, the latter entrance still
retaining its original architrave and cornice of white marble, with the
usual mouldings and a cross worked on the crowning member of the
cornice. The present entrance to the church, however, is on the north
side of the building, through a porch that leads down a sloping Turkish
passage to the western end of the north aisle.

The narthex is in five bays, the two terminal bays having cross-groined
vaults, the three central, vaults of a domical character with blunt
rounded groins at the springing. The whole vaulting surface of the
narthex was once covered with mosaics exhibiting mainly a geometrical
pattern.

From the narthex three tall arched openings conducted to the nave, and
one opening to each aisle. But the direct communication between the
narthex and the northern aisle is now cut off by the insertion of the
Turkish entrance to the church, although the old doorway to the aisle
remains complete.

The nave is divided into two large bays of equal breadth but unequal
length, the western bay being the shorter. In the latter the arches
which support its roof are, to the east and west, semicircular, while
those to north and south are roughly elliptical, springing from the same
level and rising to the same height as the semicircular arches, but
being of shorter span. These elliptical arches extend to the outer walls
of the church, thus partaking of the character of short barrel vaults.

Upon these arches is raised what has been called an elliptical dome. But
in no part has it the character of a true ellipse, nor does it spring
from its supporting arches in the simple regular manner of a dome, but
in the complex manner of a vault built upon arches of unequal curvature.
It should therefore rather be called a domical vault. Where it shows
above the roof it has the appearance of a modified and very low cone
covering an irregular elliptical drum.

The eastern bay of the nave is square on plan, bounded by semicircular
arches, all extended so as to form short barrel vaults. The western arch
is joined to the eastern arch of the western bay, thus forming a short
barrel vault common to both bays. The vault to the east runs to the
semi-dome of the apse; whilst the vaults to north and south, like the
corresponding vaults in the western bay, extend to the outer walls and
cover the eastern portions of the aisles and galleries. Above the
supporting arches regular pendentives are