In the third period, the systems of Italy and Greece were united ; the division indeed owes its origin, in a great mea sure, to the Roman basilica, as is manifested by the gable ends of the wall showing the inclination of the roof. Athens tarnishes a number of examples, in which the influence of Western type is particularly noticeable. The galleries for females were now dispensed with, and a portion of the area of the church set apart for their service in the transepts. The influence of this new mode, however, was more especially shown in the profusion and richness of the ornaments em ployed in the details of the buildings.
Paintings in fresco took the place of mosaics, and were multiplied to such an extent, that at last the very marble which previously adorned the surbasement, was imitated by this means.
Semicircular vaults covered the whole length of the church ; the windows were closed up with slabs of stone or marble, pierced with small circular apertures to admit light ; and the doors began to be of more elaborate work manship ; the interior arrangement remained the same as before. This last period, which has been said to end with the invasion of the Turks, may be considered as continuing for some time longer. during which the arts remained sta tionary in up to the period of the last war of inde pendence.
It now only remains to give some description of a few of the churches which have been alluded to in a previous part of this article : we cannot do better than commence with that of S. Sophia, which forms a fair type of the whole style. The following extract is taken from the Encyclopedia Metropolitana :— " The cathedral of S. Sophia, at Constantinople, which had been built by Constantine, having been twice destroyed by fire, was rebuilt finally by Justinian, about A. D. 53'2. his architect, Anthemius, gave the design, and the emperor every day superintended the wotk, which was completed in about six years from the time of laying the foundation ; the magnificence of the edifice so well satisfied the emperor, that lie is said to have glorified himself with the reflection that in it he had exceeded Solomon himself.
The plan of the interior is that of a Greek cross, the four arms of which are of equal length ; the central part is a square, the sides of which are each about 115 feet long. At each angle of the square a massive pier of travertine stone has been carried to the height of 86 feet from the pavement, and four semicircular arches stretch across the intervals over the sides of the square, and rest upon the piers.
The interior angles between the four piers in the central square are filled up, from the springing points of the four arches, in a concave form, to a horizontal plane passing through their vertices, which are at 143 feet above the pave ment ; so that, at the level of the vertices, the interior edge of the part filled up becomes a circle, the diameter of which is equal to the side of the central square. Upon this circle, as a base, is raised the principal dome, the form of which is that of a segment of a sphere, which is said to be equal in height to one-sixth of the diameter of the base. On both the eastern and western sides of the square, in the centre of the church, is a semicircular recess, the diameter of which is nearly equal to the side of the square; it is carried up to the same height as the piers, and terminates in a half-dome, or quadrant of a sphere, its base resting upon the hemi cylindrical wall of the recess, and its vertical side coinciding with the arch raised between the piers on the face of the building ; the flat side of each recess and dome being open towards the interior of the church. These quadrantal domes were intended to resist the lateral thrust of the arches raised on the northern and southern sides of the church, but they were found insufficient, for the arches pushed away the half-dome on the eastern side twice, and it could only be made to stand by constructing the great dome of pumice stone and very light bricks obtained from Rhodes, by filling up the arches with others of smaller dimensions, and by carrying an enormous a•ch-buttress from a massive wall beyond the building to the foot of the dome.
"At the extremities of the semicircular recesses, in a line running east and west through the centre of the church, are smaller recesses, the plan of one of which terminates in a semicircle, and of the other in a right line ; these recesses are built to the height of the springing of the four principal arches, and are crowned by quadrantal domes, which, as well as the recesses, are open towards the interior. In each of the two principal hemicylindrical recesses between the great piers, and the other recesses just mentioned, are formed two other cylindrical recesses, open towards the interior, and covered by quadrantal domes. All the recesses and domes are perforated by rows of small windows to obtain light.