he
exterior masonry is Byzantine, as the use of polished ashlar with fine
joints, of pointed arches, and of moulded stone cornices clearly proves.
The absence of shafts at the angles of the dome drums and the unrecessed
windows are additional proofs of this fact, and we may conclude that the
entire exterior was refaced in Turkish times.
The diagonal arches under the north and south semi-domes are peculiar.
Furthermore, in lobed Byzantine churches the lateral apses project
beyond the square outer walls. Here they are contained within the
walls.[177]
Nor are the semi-domes themselves Byzantine in character. The large
windows in the dome surface and the lead-covered dormers placed above
the flat moulded cornice betray a Turkish hand; for windows in the dome
are universal in the great Turkish mosques, and the method of protecting
them on the exterior with wooden dormers is quite foreign to Byzantine
ideas. The form of the drums and cornices should be compared with the
minor domes of the mosque of Sultan Bayazid.
A careful examination of the building has led to the following
conclusions. The lateral semi-domes with their supporting arches are a
Turkish addition. The central dome, including the drum, is probably
entirely Turkish, and takes the place of an original ribbed dome. The
two easternmost domes in the north 'aisle' and those over the inner
narthex and the prothesis are also Turkish, and, as already stated, the
exterior of the entire building. On the other hand, the eastern apse,
the dome arches, the arcade, and the windows above it on the west side
of the dome, the inner narthex with the ground vault to the south of it,
and the entire outer narthex, are parts of the original building, dating
probably from the sixth or seventh century. It should be
particularly noticed that the windows over the western dome arcade are
circular-headed inside, though they have been provided with pointed
heads on the outside in the process of refacing.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIX.
(1) S. ANDREW IN KRISEI. IN THE CLOISTER ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE
CHURCH, LOOKING EAST.
(2) S. ANDREW IN KRISEI. THE CHAIN ON THE WITHERED TREE IN THE COURT ON
THE WEST OF THE CHURCH.
_To face page 116._]
If we stand in the northern lateral apse and face the mihrab the reason
for the alterations is evident. The original Christian orientation is
ignored, and the apses, in place of being lateral, are terminal. To the
left is the old apse lef
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