I was surprised and pleased that so many of the churches allowed photography, so the fact that flash was forbidden seemed a slight inconvenience, although my current camera is not too good with low light levels, as you can see.
The windows were all originally 'glazed' with very thin sheets of brownish marble. How many of the original panes still remain it is impossible to say but it looks as if glass painted to look much the same as thin marble has been used. This has a significant effect on the nature and level of the light inside the building, which probably explains the yellowish tinge to some of the pictures which I have tried, very inexpertly, to compensate for.
Since I knew I was going to buy a book with good reproductions of the mosaics in, I tried in several of my own photos to give an impression of the over-all decorative effects.
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The Empress Theodora with her retinue |