n to the hillside.
The church stands amid fragments of ruined walls, the remains of the
town destroyed by the Genoese in 1354. To the west is a stony space
where wild irises grow and bloom profusely in the crevices of the rocks,
and from which there is a fine view over the sea northwards to the
highlands of the Karst. Between this flowery wilderness and the church
is an open grassy space enclosed by a wall, and with a few trees round
its edges, which was probably the atrium. Opening upon this is the
narthex, an open portico level with the tower which stands at the west
end of the north aisle, with a stone seat running round the wall. Two
steps lead _down_ into the nave, and there is a door in the south aisle,
which has two windows, the clerestory having four; though on the north
side, where the graveyard lies, there are none. The building consists of
a nave and aisles divided by an arcade of five round arches upon
rectangular piers without caps, the two eastern bays being enclosed by
dwarf walls with framings of marble slabs upon which interlacing
patterns of the ninth century are carved. They return across the ends of
the aisles, in each of which is an altar beneath a wagon vault, though
there is no apse. The central apse is vaulted with a semi-dome, but does
not show externally. The choir is raised two steps above the nave, and
the altar is approached by a third. The ambo or pulpit stands outside
the screen on four columns, approached by steep steps from within; an
octagonal column of coloured marble supports a slab for a book-rest,
facing eastwards at the foot of the steps. In plan the ambo somewhat
resembles that at Grado, with six half-colonnettes projecting from the
curved form, two of them terminating in heads on each side of the
book-rest, itself supported on an octagonal shaft which dies into its
underside with very flat vine or oak leaves spread over the surface. The
whole has been so plentifully whitewashed that detail is nearly
obliterated, but there is sufficient difference between the styles of
various parts to make it probable that a reconstruction took place at
some period, older material being employed to a great extent. The fact
that two of the bases have angle claws and are manifestly not in their
original position supports this theory. The altar to the left is part of
a Roman sarcophagus with a funerary inscription in letters of the
Imperial period:

C. IVLIO
NICOSTRATO