Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/96

 66 Byzantine Architecture. ings, and externally with sculpture ; and at Misitra (the ancient Sparta) the church of the Virgin is still preserved. How widely Byzantine influence was felt in Western Europe is proved by the existence of such buildings as the magnificent cathedral of St. Mark at Venice (Fig. 33), be^un A.D. 977, which still exists in much of its original grandeur, and the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, both of which are of a purely Byzantine type. Saint Mark's has five equal-sized domes arranged in the form of a cross ; and at the great front five large porches, which are sup- ported by hundreds of marble columns. Over the middle porch stand the four celebrated horses which once adorned the arch of Trajan at Rome. The Emperor Constantine took them to Constantinople, whence they were brought to Venice by Doge Dandolo in 1204. The interior of St. Mark's is covered with a profusion of glittering mosaics, which render it one of the most remarkable buildings in the world. The cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, supposed to have been built by Charlemagne between A.D. 796 and 804, is one of the oldest and finest of the circular buildings of Northern Europe.