r apse with small recesses opening out of it
at either end, and is separated from the aisles by rows of closely set
columns with ornate capitals, spanned by arches upholding two-storied
arcaded galleries, roofed in by semi-domes, except at the northern and
southern ends, which have walls with numerous small windows. One large
western window illuminates the nave, and there is also a double circle
of lights round the apse, the galleries, and the narthex.

Other interesting early Byzantine buildings are the Baptistery at
Kalat-Seman and the church of S. George at Ezra, both in Syria, each of
which is of square plan with an octagonal central space, the latter
having the comparatively unusual feature of a dome upheld by what is
known as a drum, that is to say a low vertical wall instead of
pendentives. The church of S. Sergius at Constantinople, contemporaneous
with S. Sophia, is specially noteworthy on account of the introduction
in it of a classic entablature, combined with distinctive Byzantine
features, with which may be named the much-restored S. Lorenzo at Milan
and the church of the Virgin at Misitra, the ancient Sparta.

To the second period of Byzantine Architecture belong not only several
fine buildings in Constantinople, but others in Greece, Asia Minor, the
North of Italy, and elsewhere, all of which, though they have the
leading structural features of the style, are distinguished by certain
minor local characteristics. The most noteworthy in the capital are the
now secularised church of S. Irene, founded by Constantine and rebuilt
considerably later, and the church of the Chora monastery, specially
remarkable for its beautiful mosaics, whilst in Greece the Churches of
S. Nicodemus at Athens and that of Daphni not far from it, with the two
monastic churches at Stiris and the churches of S. Sophia and S. Elias,
at Salonika, are all thoroughly Byzantine, bearing a close resemblance
to each other. They are all, however, excelled by the great Cathedral of
S. Marco at Venice, which rivals even S. Sophia in the exquisite beauty
of the interior and excels it in the ornate richness of the exterior.

Founded early in the 9th century, S. Marco was partially destroyed in
978 and rebuilt soon afterwards in the original style, that of a
basilica without transepts, but in the second half of the 11th century
it was completely transformed by additions converting it into a
cruciform building, roofed over by five domes of the sam