Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/440

424 BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE. Part IT. on a rock in the centre of which the pillar of that eccentric saint originally stood. This apparently was never roofed over, but stood always exposed to the air of heaven. i ' The greater part of the conventual buildings belonging to this church still remain in a state of completeness, — a fact which will be startling to those who are not aware how many of the great religious establishments of Syria still stand entire, wanting only the roofs, which were apparently the only parts constructed of Avood. The whole of the buildings at Kelat Seman seem to have been completed Avithin the limits of the 5th century, and not to have been touched or altered since they were deserted, apparently in conse- quence of the Mahomedan irruption in the Ttli century. The most curious point is that such a building should have remained so long in such a situation, unknown to the Western Avorld ; for the notices hitherto published have been meagre and unsatisfactory in the extreme. But we now know that when all the details are made public, they will form by far the most valuable contribution yet offered to our knowl- edge of the architecture of that age. In the same province we find also the earliest examples of the use of ])ier arches in a church to separate the nave from the aisles. These seem to have been currently used in Northern Syria in the 6th century, thouoh not found in the West — at least not used in the same manner — for several centuries later. Generally three such arches only were employed in the length of the nave, and they consequently left the floor so open and free, that it is very questionable if in churches of limited dimensions the introduction of a much larger number by the Gothic iiij2. I'lan of Church at Kouheihii. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in. !LEi-LHL-:l ^ . ...... P ■ I I - I UUJ I I — H iil», __U-_L UJ_LiC.-l ?^rr-'Trnr:':EMEk /^:i " fill -^ / 853. Section oi Church at Rouheiha. (From De Vogiie.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in. Another very small church, that of | seems to have adopted the same hypae- Moudjeleia, though under 50 ft. square, i thral arrangement.