BIBAIOOHKH THX EN AOHNAIX APXAIOAOTIKH ETAIPEIA APIO.

54

XAPTITTIPION
,
ETX

i[ xrctlc I o( K.'0 y,^/{aoN

TO T'
Uhtrflt
Wlr
a

AOHI\AI L966
01042
 4L
lllGA\M: Il YZAN'IINE REI'ICULATE RII VET}IENTS
^.li.s.

fecesses formccl irr the facc of tlie r'vall, which behind tlic tiles is of an econo-
'fhus, in adcliLion to bheir clecorabive lole, tiles
rnicai lorrghcolsl,r'uction.
blre material or
pr"f' u'oi,io'ecl as a substiLute for dressed st,o'e whe'e
lrorn the blvo churrhes
the resources bo provitle i1,, lvas lol available. .Apart
I}YZANTINE RETICULATIJ REVETMENTS near l3ourgareli, erecLed about 1280, ernpioys
irr \r.ta itself, l,he Panagia \/ellis
rvhelc squales of polos sLonc
(P1. r _ vr) bhis clecoration in trvo bauds ort ils lollg rvalls,
atenabe with the tiles l,o giYe a particoloured effect6.
In thc corlesponciing
\;\/tl o$'c so trltteh of tlre nerv lighl, llllorvn orr l3yzantine rroiritecture il' facades of the Pare-
|eYctment bancls ol l,he north, east, and part ol the rvest
oltt' getlerttl;itln l,o Lhe diligencc ol tire scfuolrr 1;o rv]rom this vol'rne
is clecli- golitissa, erectecl bctr,r,een t2B9 ancl 1296, unglazed Liles of two colours, lighl,
trtrted, l,hat it rvilI surplise ro oe if bhis ontribul,io starts lvit of St. Iasil, which
refe.e'ce ,r clori., are usotl; u,hile o bhe rrorth ancl cast rvalls
1'o hs ruillications. Prolessor' Orlalclos's tliscussiorr of reticulabc
tile r.evet- Orlanclos rcasonally rcgaltls as somewhab later', in additiorl to plairl tiles,
ttrtltlts ill llis ttcltloLtnts of thc Pa|egci|i{,issa ancl Sl,. I]sil al rta 1 glazetl l,rles of gr.eol, y1lonu, i'o'y a'cl darh lrorvn colour are 'seil. The size
lisfetl
the salielt illorlurnenl,s and supersedecl {illet's obsen,ations2. I re-open
the t ttrn biles emplyecl ,,anges from 0.15m. square rt the PanagiaVellrs l,o 0.12m.
subject only because the emphasis r,hat sergio Bettini subsecuer,ly for te
placed on square at te a,:egoritissa, ancl 0.10 rn. square (alcl 0.0i5 rn. tltiok)
bhe probalile rvestcrn clcrivation of the Byntine
exanples seerns excessi\e3, gltrzed tiles usecl ab St. Basil.
a'd beca'se nerv discoveries in the East have now to be tal<en irto account. No other cxample unrploying glazecl l,iles has been |erorbecl frotn Greece' and
This form of facade treatment raises rnore trran the sirnple question
of re- Llieil appearalrce in the l'our,leenbh ccnl,ur' ai, Arta has lleen ciled in support
lations betrveen Byzantittm and the \4est in tiic field of
buildng techlique. of an Iiatiarr inspilal,io lor, l,Jre lt-.l,icrrlatt r'ovotmerlts in tirc Despotal,?.\\/hen
The facfor of inheritance_from Roma' pracbice has to in ltaly
be tar<en into account, cleveloping bhis itresis, Bebtirli citecl no conipalable glazed erarnples
a1 as the irnpact on both Byzanbiue arrd thc carupanlc ab malfi,
f \A/esbern j:uilder,q of the arojritecture ad, aithoug gtazed i,iles rvere used l,rclt-r, nol,aL-rly tlrr
of Islam. lor the mihlab in the Great n{osque at
decoratecl abo'l, the oradle of this class of clecorabion was in the Near Itrast and p r i m a f a-
A.D. 860 with lustre tiles arranged in a diagnal Qailau,an,
is older than c i e its dissernjnabion irr a westward direcLion rvould seem more probable'
ny of tlic christian revetments here discrrssed."heq.,",,-bor.cla,
I{rvever, my present pur_ In llyztrntiurn itsell, inLelnal glazecl revetrneuts irl l,he Impel'ial Palacc rvibh
pose is simpl-v to survey Llie Byzanline exarnples
t'rncl argne the case for lheir fiorai designs are leltorl,ecl bY Colsbantine Porphyrogertitus in terms evolcing
independence from those ir fhe west. It wil rro ,."..rrn.ito
refer to some re- tlie contempolary lustre tiles in the Qairawan mihrabs. They are also r'vell
ticulate clecorations which are nob rer.etrnenL,s, but are luilt-in, attested in cliurchcss. llxterior glazed tiling rvould tnatch l,he embcddirlg of
ancl to sorne
revetments which are noi reficulate. I stalt rvith
the later, but better,-lcnorv'
rnonumen bs. c Onl.uttros ,'l:Ineqo;ctu-. Xpc'v. 2, 1927, p' {57' fg. 4'
tliaper
bucl of small scl.rat'e biles, set cliagorially and fillecl-ot z Onr-Nuos, ABNIE Il' ig:ii, p. {21. A nteasulrt of \\esbcru influcncc in lic at'-
aL l,he
rvitli l,riangular lralf-tile$, wAS particularl, dear to the archi_
[,op ancl botl,orn chitccture of tlie Despotat, is beyoncl dispute, notably in thc Paregoritissa.
8 ll. g. the I{ a i n o u r g i o s oT llasii t in Lhe lmperial Palace: o nug' xri'requ t:o-t4rtt
tecl's of the Despotat of lrpirus, as professor
orrandos bserve,1 lorrg ago'. t)diou nolnypo n],aE, neptoxnor,'raq lciE,jau v\ov oxot'te .toprpo tbgat(eo}ut, (I.'ilt:,
'lhe bands are usualry onc, two or three
tiles deeli and a-re sef into shallow of Jasil in'IHopu,rxls CoNr'. \.89, ed. I3onn, 1838, p' 3:]3)'
e E.g. tlie fragments in lhe:\r,chaeological tr'Iuseum il Istanlul from the terr[h oentur;'
rParegoritissa:'AgX.,\e).r.5, 191g, p. 16_18 aud figs.5,6 curch of Constantinc Lips (Icnari Isa Camii). 'l'H. I:IAIiRTDY's accounI of thc excaval,ons
and 9; set, also his new'to_
nog'raph 'H lrag4yopTrnoct'rfi "AQ"rlc,
th.n, 1963, rvrrich appeared arter this alticre in lvhich 1ey rvere foul is lo be priblishecl in l)umbarton Oaks Papers 18. 'lhe painted
had becn complelecl. St..Basil: nt n,, 1986,
p. I20-I22 and figs. B, 1r and 6. tile fragmenti i the Lovr.e, sorrc rvitti figule represenbalions, reveal a later aspect of thc
G' x{rr'r-r:, L' Ecole grecEte dans r niriitrrturc blqantine, paris tcohniqie (8. Cocnr llr r,e Fnrt , Dcors en crarniqzte ltlantine, Caliiers -\rchologiques
lcvetments see p. 2bg, 260, 261, and 2gl f. 19r6. on r,ric rilc IX, 19;?, p. 4,87-277). Cf. D. T.lnoT p1tcr , B)'2. Pottery, Oxford 1930, p' 13f' Suclt
3 rnay have teen Ure rvall-covering belou' the mosaics in lhe Kaiamanos-Botaneiates church
_. S. I3nttrNr, Origini romano-rauennati della decorazione cerantolastica lizantina,Atti rtcl \.
Cougresso di Studi Bizantini, II (:g1i includcd in the Genoese concession on the Golclen LIorn (trhnr-osrcrt antl lfur-lun, ,4cf
Bizantini e Neoellenici \rI), Rome 1940,
4 K'A'c' cnus*lr', Ear
Mustim Architecture JI, oxford 1"940,p.809,fig.232
r. 22f. et Dilomata GraecaIII, p.31 antl 55), in lvhictr Nicometlian pottery rvas cmplo)'ocl' Thc
83, a and 86; icl. l short account of Eart2 and ps.
rhusritn trrcrtecture,rg5l, ;gn. and prs. 6t_62(a).
,tori rrrrorp.r in lhc pubiisherl text rvhich puzzlecl IIcn (op. cit,. p. 15) I assuntc to be
t 'ApX. Ae),c. 5, tgl9, p. 17. a corr.uption oir. ycto-rgkov, sincc, as in Inglish a bclly can bc callctl a'pot" so iu Lirct:k a
pol, rv:rs a 'ltelly'.
 T2 XAPIT}IPTON EI! A. I( O PAANA ON
glazed bowls at focal points of the facadesr. and the use of purpose_made
glazed pottery ornameuts set in rows to orrtline the architectural forms11.
these practices there is ample evidence in survivirrg monuments, thoug ip
Of
rnany cases oDlv the caYities once occupied by the borvls and ornaments are
norv to be seen. Can it be that tlie plain tjles which have surviyed i hurnble
Pl'ovincial citurcltes, for which cut-tlorvn buildinq-brichs r.vere often used, are
tlie poor relations of glazed tiles crnployecl in more importat Bvzatine
c,huohes, of whioh St. Basil preserves the only surr.iving examples? Reference
rvill be rnacle to more tlan one church in Grecce with blank recesses lvhence
the tile revetmeuts har.e fallen; it is by ro means certain that all the lost tiles
rverc unglazed.
A Byzantinc desoelrt, for Lhe glazccl tiles at -\rta is [,hus conceivable, and
even if theY were proyed to be of Italian origin this rvoulcl not by itself attach
to the West the type of decoration for which thcy rvere used in St. Basil's.
Rarnsay Tracluair was) I thinl<, thc firsb to obselve the affinity of these
l,ile levetlnents to the Ronran o p u s ret jculatumr2 employed in so many
buildings from alout 100 ll.C. to the time of the Antoninesls. hr this techni-
rlrre the c lr ll i I i a, elougale d pyrarriicls ol tula, form rvitir their square bases a
neat and decorative facing to the concrete core of the wall. Sometimes by
i'urvDg the lntl,erial palti-colonreci or poiychrorne patterns were producecl.
Ioman structures jn this techniclue in Gaul and the lhineland may haye
inspiler lhe ferv Carolingian examlrles of reticulate rvall-work, sLrch as that
ol' plain stone in tlrc chtrch of Cravant neal. Loohesr{ arrd thab employing
r0 llr.r,n'r, op. ciL. p. 283; xrnc;rn'in
BSr\ xx,\Ir, r. 126; id. Glaze Bouls in Rlzan-
line Chttrches, elr. Xpuot. 'r\p7. 'Dtar,pe ac, Lg64, p. 115-131.
'l'ho occaslonal appearance of glazcd bor,r'ls in an area of plain tiling, as on ie cliurch
nca. Trypi i'Laconia (N. v. Drr,rNr)r\1(rS, Ertsr Ko' l9bb, p. 46 an fig. 7), is pa.ti-
curnrly suggcstiv. of a Lr,acli[i.li of cxlemtl glazecl rc'otrncnls.
rilllie long'-stcnltnecl rniniature curs n'il,li quatrc foil lip, as usccl in thc
cemetery
r;hurtfi rl Iialamatr (pl. tII b). To the cxampos istecl b,_\trr,t,r.l (op. cit. p. 2gB_2g'g
anrl fig. t32l add: Prcslav, church no.3, ninth or tenlh ccnlury, probably the earliest
of all (N. r\lr\ylol)rNov, L' glise nef unique et l' gtise crucforme ert pays bulgare, solia
1931 , p. 1611 ); Clhios, Holy postles at Pyrghi (Onr,aNuor-, Motuntents
ilzantins de ChiosII,
pls. 38, 41 ,42\, Panagia sihelia (ibid. pls. 43, 4t)-k|l, st. .rohn at chaikios (ibid.
pl. sz),
'l'rxiarch at l(alarral<t.i (ibid. pls. b5-56); Naxos, I{oly,,\posilcs al, llctochi .rear
ir"gai
(N.D. I(i\r,oyEropour,os in Na 'Eotiz 1933, p.20 of reprint); cypms,
st. Nicholas near
I(alcopetria ('\. ancl L Srvr-rNou in I(urpr,ax,, )ouai r0, 1946
lts+s, p. 102 and fig.
i); anc{ Alkara, rvhero I havo soen spccirnt'ns civorcerl fronr [,lieir context.
12 BSA X\r, p. 18B.
13 Sttr<'licd and fully illustratetl
by G. l,ucr,r, Ln tecltnica edilizia Romana, Rome 1g57,
1t. 487-526 and pls. UXXXI-CLX.
1+ I. 1l L.\srlrYlIr, L' tlrchitectme religieuse en France L' oque Rontatrc, paris {gj2, Bnukunst, Loipzig {909, p. 77, 1rig. B ) by Ott,rtNutts, 'r\p7,. Aelc[ov 5, 17f. and Bl'fll R',
p '150, fig. 134; (1. ItNr,An'r, Manuel d'archoLogiefranaise,r, pt. it, paris
t927,p. r0, fig'. r.
r. 195, fig. 2. cf.'l,he cliuroh at sainl-Gnroux (Doux-[ir,r,cs): un Lr\srryrrn,
op. cit.
{3
A,I{.S. TTEGAW BYZANINT RDTICULA'-|E RDV]ITNIENTS
both red and rvhitc sttiue iIt the l,orsch gatervavls. Through
such examples
in latel' lo-
,lro pnrrng"s of retioulate rnasonl'y that appear occasionally
r.,ru'rqoe-.lr'ildi'gs mav be traced to thc same sourceld'
tr,tre cornplex is the origin of the built-in' parti-coloured Attyergnat
{ccorations, ,nnr'ry of which incorporate reticulate passages' Dating maily from
potentialities of
the twelfth cetury, thev certainly orve much to the decorative
t,he local basalt when usecl with other stones, but a Sparrish,
ot et'ert a Byzan-
has Jieen suggestedl?' Where tiles
tinc oigin for these part-colotrred facades
tliagonally and fjlled-out with white stone
o.o ,,ruJ ther are in single rorvs set
below cornices or string-
triagles to form a narrow band round the arches or
coursesrs. 'lhis treatment is found in more than one Ilyzantine church in
Greece of earliel' date, as rve shall see belolv, and yet earlier round the mihrab
at Qairarvan. 'lhe French rnasots thus appear to have been recipients, not
distributors, of this particular class of decoration.
llettini rvas bhns on questionable ground when he suggested that thc rare
examples of leticulate re\etment in Italy are to be explained by borrowings
from France; equally so rvhen he wcnt on to say that Italy transrnitbed the
technicue to the I3alhans, whence it passed to Ctirtstarrtinoplets. 'l'he exarnple
ilt the eleventh century campanile of Sant' Apollinare in Classe2o can hardly
bv itself support this thesis. Other Italian examples are of dorrbtful value to
I ettini's argument. The reticulate tiling of the domes of the Cattolica at
1 Stilo in Calabria are better regarded as evidence of a rvestrvarcl traffic, as we
I
I p. 151, fig. 135; H. Put,ltps, Die farbige Arehitekur lei den Rnetn tutd in n-Iittelalter, lleiil,
1930, P. r8. fig. lt.
15 I(. J. CoNaNt, Carolin.qian and Romanesque Architechtre, 1959, pl, 7 (r\) and p. 18
(rtrlassical revivalismr); a good sketch before lestoration in T.J. J.tcrsoN, B:yzantine an
Roncnesque Architecture, Il, pl, LXXXIII; Pur,nns, op. cit. pl. XXII,2.
16 E.g. A,zay-le-Rideau(Indre-et-Loirc) u'ost gable, car'eleventh centurv(J. GaNtNntt
and trL Ponti, Ronunesque Art inFrance, London 1956, pl. 210); Salnt-Jouin-de-llarncs
(Dcux-Svrcs) rvest gable,
'\. D. 1120-50 (ibid. pl. 201r); Saint-Hilaire-le-grand at, Poitiers,
a larirl lrelor'v the cornice of the arnbulatoly tvall, r'ebuilt ca.'t130 (J. R,rult, Ronmnesrlue Ar-
chitedure in F'rance, London 1928, pl. 4t).
rz JACr<s{rN, op. cit. p. 131. This polychrorne decoration is ernploycrl in bands round
lhc apses, in spandrcls, gablcs ancl elsetvherc, in churches at Clermont-Ferrand, Ntre-
I)ame-du-Port (ibid. pl. CIXVII) at Lc Puy-cn-Veay (G.tllt\'llt ancl Potu, op. cit. pls.
138 and 142): Issoire (ibid. pl. 1/r7); Orcival (ibid. pl. {49); Brioude (ibid. p. {rtzr) antl
Cliauriat (Bauu, op. cit, pl. 88).
t8 E.g. thc cloistcr at Le-Puy-en-Vclay (lr,t LastnYttIn, op. cit. p. 353, fig.373) and
Saint-l'Iartin d'inay in f,yon, conseoatcd in 1107 (Beurr, op. cit. p.71; Ptmr,Ps, op.
cit. p. 76, fig. 504).
1s BDrrrNr, op. cit. p. 29-30.
20 lrid. fig. B and p. 28, carlier cited (from llor,zrNcEn, Altchrist. und b2zantinische
j2t:also illrrstrated by Cu,ltut<r,urt'N. BARLA, trIoprprj xa tAc rtu Ru(unwtv Kooto-
o'raokrv, thens (rcliaeological Society) 1959, p. 34, fig. 10.
 1lt X,4'PIl'I'IIl, ION TtlE A. I{. Opr\:\NON A.II.S. 1\{DGAW BTZANTIN]I RI'TICUI,AT]J R']]VNTMNNTS t5

sltall see below; ncl Gino Chierici was sulely con'eot in regarding be lctic-
Iate tnasonr)'irl tlic intelior of the Castel del l,Ionte as a clirecb <richiapo alle
formc classiche>, oharac,teristic ol the buildings of lilecler,ic Il 11.
If all the llasbern exarnrles of reticulate revetncnts clal,eil, lil<e thsr-.
irr Arta, from l,he thirteentli centrtry or later anclill,hey rvcle nll concclratsil
in liie driat,ic r'c, as llel,tini impiies, hjs claim for eastwaril transrnission
woulcl cal't'y lllot' rn'eight. But sucli is not, thc case. It is brue l,hat t[e trvo ,el[..
[<tror'v e-xarnp]cs at Ochlicl, inthe oliurch oI Sl,. Cleme(I2g4l5)r, and thc poll,ico
of st. sophia (i 31i/lzr )r' do nrccl, l,lrese recuirernenr,s, but tliis type oi de-
of St. Nicholas at Ochiu, a somern'lrat, earlier twelfth-century builtl-
l,ar,arles
i'E (pi. I h)es. The church-builcers rvho \\ol'l(ctl in 1e sotrtheas[, Peloporl-
in
,rrr,, ,r the Frani<s withdreu, \ /ere bius continrting a pracl,icc r,vell-cstalliished
Lcorrii before the Latin occupatior. Tlie possitiliby exists that those
worl<nE
i* i,e Despotat, in r\rta lilieu'ise lol lo.'ed in their reticulat,e decorabiols local
llyzarttine noclels of earlier date.
Irr te trvelfth certury, r'e\ettnenbs of bhis hind were certainly not limil;cd
t,o Lacoia. 'l'he crches lvhere it is used in 'Iani at'e precisely those which
rr.o r,loscsl i otlier lespccts lo bhcir conternl.roraries elservhere in Greece'
1,

cclrrtiou rvrs also oullertb Itrrtlter Soutlr, rrol,ably in thc l,aconiarl rnclar.ir re-
covercd lol l3yzanl,iurn in 1262.
t\lillct oJrstrt'r'ed bhat l,he l,rvo lecessed banrls irr Lhe easl, lrcaric ol' Sl,s.
Theodore al, listra, erecled before 1296, rnusb oncc hnvo cen fillcd rvi{,lr
reticulate revr:tmenls (pl. I a)'za. 'l'he lor,ver band is 0.71 m. tr 0.74 rn. irig alcl
Lhus must have corrcsponded closely in clesign antl size clf bi [o rvil,li thse ofl
rrrr\'[,crcl'gle bo alr cc.iilet ol sun'ir,rl that lhis iorlrl of dccoration is not
t.ltar'rtleristic of 1,hc bel,tcr.-l<norvtr trr,clfth-ce[urv churtllies in the Pelopon-
ncsr'.,,\tt,ica aud Ccnbral (reet,c. \ ferv in which iI n,as trsetl tralt incleeci llc
r,it,cd. Ill l,hc rvell-l<ltorvn churtlh at Sarnari in Messenia, for examplc' ttre
I rrot gable rvinclorv rvas eviclently flanl<etl by panels of reticulate tiling ahin
1

the Paregoritissa (0.70 m. high). An approximatcly contemporary Lacorritrrr
church published by N. V. Drandakis stili rctains a bancl of tlre typc
cliscussecl across llto soutli laoade. 'fliis is auothcr church ol 1,ho Sts.'l'hco-
dore, near the village of Trypi, where rather irregular tiles about 0.10b rn. s(l r'c
apploximal,e in size bo l,hose usecl in St. llasil at \rla25.
1'he appearauce of this decoration in ohurchesclatingfrorn the first
1,car.s
of the lSyzantine re-establishrnent in tlie Peloporrnese coulcl reasonabiy Je
abtributed to influences from the Despotat of Epirus, as X4illet snggested26, rvcre
il, not for the fact birat other modcls, dating before tre Latirr conquest, rvere
available closer at hand. The church of Sts. Sergius ard Bacchus (now known
as St. George) near I(ytta in 'Iani, which has long beeri l<noln ancl is clatable to
the third cuarter of the twelfth century, retains reticulate bands on the west
and south facades and below the cornice of the apse, as rl'ell as panels oli eitlier
side of tlie gable u,indor'vs (pl. II a)27. other excellent ancl evicrenl,ly corrtern-
pol'al'y exarnples exist in the church of St. Barbara ab l,emos28. In a thircl
church in l\,iani l,hrre arc simpler bancls consisting of sinslo tiles set diago-
nally witli the triartgulal sl-races filled-in wjtir mortar, on thc nortli and sob[
2r Castel del [onte (I monunenli Iktliani: Iiiicvi raccolte i cur dclla
Rrrale i\ccarlrrrrirr
d'Italia, fasc. I), Rornc 1934, pls. X\/ a'tl XVI, text p.4. ancl figs.2 a.d
22 ll. FILov, ALtbulgarische Kunst, Bct,n 19I9, pl. VlI.
23 IrLr,Er, op. ciL. fig. 90.
24 lbid. yt. 287.
25 EEBI I(E', p.46, figs. (-7; on the clating by slytc, sec p.50.
26 ,IrLLET, loc. cil.
2? l.
TRAeUrn, BS XV, 1903/9, 1t. 187, fig.3, rl. XIV,.t l\Il,;c,rrv. Illi\XXXITI
4W213, pl. 19, r, ancl on thc date p. 162.
28 lbicl. p. 147 and
1tI. 17, h.
l'o tliose ol' thc l('tta church (p1' II b)' Saruat'i, as irl llte h'fistta chut'ch'
I
t,hc t,iles have Iallcn letiving blank "\t
recesses, but the character of the missing
I
l t,cyclruert is ortte oI, lty the srtl'vival in sitrr, higher in the gable, of two
: isolated Lriarigulal lialf-tiles of 1,lie type used to fjll-out tlic cclges of tlrc
I
mticrrlate bancls ancl panels.
I l eastern Al'caclia, bhe Kabholil<rlr of thc 'Ionaster'' oI Louior'r makes
t
rcstr.ctecl use of this t1'pe of tiling: in tu'o panels of four tiles cach or.er tlre
soul,h gable rvindorv and in a single row set diagonally in a band below the
rlolrt cor.nice3o. By its affinity with the Panayia ab tr'Ierbaka, the latesl, of
thc scries of twell'th-century churches in ihe r\rgive plain, we tnay srppose
thal the Loukou K,Ltholihon was built aronnd A.D. 1200.
In seel<ing the prototypes of tlie reticulal,e revetments of Arba and Misbra
il s hardly necessary to look beyond these twelfth-century exarnples in the
l)tiloponnese, and their putative contemporaries further north. The buildings
ol l,lie DespoLat and of l,he Laconian enclave were, initially at least, simply
t'orrt,inuing the architecLural traditions previously current in [Syzantine I{ei]as.
llrrt, since the argument that Ilellas in this particular type of decoration was
bollowing from ltaly resl,s mainly on an eieventh-centrtry tnonumenl, l,he
carnpanile at Ravenna, it is necessary? in rejecting it, to postulale yet earlier
l3yzantine models in Greece itself. A few such models do in fact exist.
In tlie i\'Ictarnorphosis chrirch at Koutifari, one of t,he i\'Iani clu.rrches for'
i.
ri'lrich I ltrve suggestccl rn clevclrth-cenLLrry rlate, r'etir,ulate rer.etm.ents flrnlc
l,lic lrotth and west gable windo\\s; in addition, vertical bands of single Liles
set diagonallv border eaoh of bhe eight faces of tre clome3l. This eln'enth-
2e Ilrid, pl.21,1:; l\.V. Dnnol<ts in llEB) l(E', p. aff.
30 ORLANDos, 'I-Irego)'yr,ov rie {e'izc 'Ell8oq l', 1"92t,, p. 425, fig. 3 and p. 428,
ng. b.
ir1 IEGAW, XXXII, pl. 2tt,
tsSA 193213, d.
 76 XAPIITIIPION EIE A. I(, OPAANAON DI>] '\' I(' OPAANAON
PI. I
XAP]'TIIPION
century example of the latter trealment, which as we have seen was later
repeated under the eaves of the Ochia church and below the dome cornice
of the Loukou Katholikon, is noteworthy in vierv of its appearance in France
during the twelfth century32.
The Athenian church of the Prophet Elias, which was demolished in
1848, offered a good exatnple of revetrnent of this hind on a Byzantine dorne
of relatively earl' date: a horizontal band inking the arches of the eight
small windowss3. Surviving illustratiorrs suggest that the church was erected
in the eleventh century, if not earlier, for.the octagonal clome was of the early
type with a stepped cornice that has been called a diplotholion3a.
It is in an approximately contemporary context that are preserved some
of the ferv sltrviviug revetrnert tiles ltearing carved designs: in the cemetery
church of St. Charalarnbos in Kalamata. They are set in the north gable, not
in a reticulate scheme, nor in any logical order, and it is possible they are reused
material (pl. IIIb). Thesc and other carved tilcs are perhaps to be regarded
as the equivalents among plain tiles of the glazed tiles painted with lloral de-
signs once to be seen on the interior revetments of the Great Palace. Some
of the designs were published by N,Iillet35. The Kalamata church has suffered
a number of alterations, but the gable ol rvhich the tiles form an integral part
a. 'Iistra Sts. Thcodore
has a bhreeJight rvindow o1' the arcade type which still prevailed during the
early eleventh century36. The galile also preserves examples of the outlining
rows of purpose-made pots of the tvpe employed in a number of churches
during this periods?. If the carved tiles rvere in fact re-used in their pr.esent
position and previously adorned some earlier church, then the tile revetment
treatment must have originated in the l]yzantinc sphere at least as early as
the tenth century. And e'r.en if the Kalamata tiles are contemporary with
the church in which they are set, they and other eleventh-century tie-revet-
ments are sufficiently der.eloped to presuppose that this type of clecoration
had been current for some time.

32 Seenote 18 above.
sB
The drawing ol the dome in A. Lnltottt, Architeeture monastique, Paris 1852, I, p. 28g
shows a combination of small square tiles and octagons, unique if correct.
3a cf. the church of st,. Germanos by Lake Prespa,
dated by an inscription to 1006:
N. MAvRoDrwov, -L' gtise nef uniquc et I'glise cruciforme en nys bulgare, sofia 1981,
p. 78, fig. 8B; Sr. Pnl,prcanros, Blutw xai n[erautaatu fuh,qpea.rfi Ifqonu.,Thes-
saloniki 1960, pl. II, 1. Recent repairs have oblicratecl tris fcaturc (ibiil. pls. l ancl II, 2;
as a corsequence it has been ornitted in Pelekanides's sections, ibid. figs. r and 6).
35 xfILLE'r, op. cit. fig. 116. The presence
of cufic elements (e. g. the bottom lef
tile on pl. IIIb) connects these rvith lhe carvecl tiles set, in bands on the Panagia Lyko-
delnou and Sts. Theodore in :\lhens (discussed by the tvriter with references in BSA
XXX[, p. 105f.).
36 MEcAw, BSA XXXII, p. 120f. b. Ocliia ('Iani) . St. Nichoas. North facade
3? See note 11 above.
 X

o
z

M

F
o
F

z

o
z

t
-. I
rJ
a. Kytta (Mani). Sts Sergius and Bacchus. b. Samari (Messenia) . Zoodhokhos Piyi. :-.
South gable North gable
 PI. III
XAPIETHPION EI' A' I(' OPAANAON

a. Nikli (Tegea). Palaea EPiskoPi

(Phot. Chfist. Archaelog. Society no' 2174)

b. Kalamata. Cemetery Church. North gable

-..*:-'-; F-+; --#'rt3*'-'<'.

H
M

hJ

P
F
o

z
V

;,

a. Kastoria. Panayia Koubelitiki b. Ano Lampovo (Albania) . Koimesis Church l-
H
lafter Verskis)
XAPIETHPION lIIE A. It. OPAANAON Pt.v

a. Stilo (Calabria). La Cattolica

(after n'reshfield)

b. Nikli (Tegea). Palaea Episkopi. Souih gable

 Pl. 1,'J
XAPIETHPION EI A' K' OPAANAON

- - ..*-:.'-
I ;" .--s
-\
I *r *t'-' *.'t .: tT:
i"

a. Amasra (,.\rnastris). Fatili Camii

(Phot. C. llango)

b. Zourtsa (Kato Phigalia). Panayia

 t7
A.fI.S. '\IIl G\W IIYZ\NTIND lE TICUI,ATIT] RNVETIIENTS

was the real

'I'llere is inclccd sotne eviclence that the tenth century
in Byzantine architecture' and that all
f I o r. i t of this class of clecoration
'
thelaterGr,ee]<examplesofreticrrlaterevetrnetrtsofarconsider.edweresuT-
vivals,orrevivalsotatechniquelesscharacteristicoftheirtimethanitwas
few monuments of
of the earliest l\,Iiddte Byzantine phase. comparatively churches relevant to the
in*-pr."* have survived, b't there are at least fo'rdated'
p;,;"t theme wltich, though they are not firmlyreticulateitrevetments
is reasonable to
are a
ruing to this relatively early periocl. In all
four.,
'fhese fours chrrrches are:
predJmir,a',t feature oi ttrn ""fctttal decoratjon.
' 1.) 'Ihe Palaea Episkopi at Nihli (Tegea) (pls' III a and Y1"'
The semi-circ.rlu. apss, the circular domes and some
primitive features
for an earlier dating' Little
of the plan are alien to the eleventh century and call
of the reticulate tili'g s'rvived the ,"p"ir* of 1884/BB but that little, though
it has long since entiriy disappeared, is shown on a' early photograph belong-
that
ing to the Ct*lstian Archaeiogical Society (pl. III a)3e. Millet realised
and Orlandos has drawn attention to
thfs decoration hacl once exisieda'
the engraving macle before the repairs antl reproduced by Lambros, in
which considerable remains of tlie reticulate clecoration are shownal' The
great extent of the revetments that formerly existed is indicated by recessed
nruo, ot the facades and the smaller ctomes, which ab mauy points remain in
their original form. On the main apse there were bands of tile revetment above
ancl below the dentil course at the level of the springing of the window ar-
ches, a third below the cornice, and others on the lateral apses' On the gables,
to judge by that on the south (the other two have been rebuilt), there was one
across the bottom of the gable, below the window-sill, and double bands
flanked the windows (pl. V b). The four smaller domes were encircled by this
decoration in the zone above the dentil course tinking the windows. In no
surviving exarnple of later date was so large a proportion of the surface re-
r.etted.
2) The Panayia at Zourtsa (nou'I{ato Phigalia) n Triphilia (p1. VI b).
The early clate of this basilica is attested try the semi-circular apses'
tire arcade window of the central apse and its stepped cornicea2. Reticulate
38 I'IILLET, op. cit. fig.127 (from southrvest);RCH50,{926, p.135, fig. I (from east);
ORt,awlos, ABI{E \' 1935, p. Lt+6, fig. 7 (plan and section).
3e No.2174. I owe the enlargement here reproduced and permission to publish it to
the kindness of Dr. 'I. Flatzidakis.
40 NIILLET, op. cit. p. 282, note 2.
+1 Sp. LerruRos, 'Iorcpatc'E)'doq,vol.6, p. 901 ;also in N. D. Ilon.t'rIs's '1zo-
pfu tfi Teya, Athens 1932, p.233. This engraving shorvs that the main dome had fallen.
a2 This form is used in the main apse of the I{oimesis churcli of l)piskopi near Kar-
pcnisi (Onr-aNDos, I\BIIE O'1961, p.5, fig. 2). Orlandos cites other carly exarnplcs (the
Skripou church A.D. 873/4 and the fifth-ccntury basiiicas at Thessaloniki), and assigns
the Episkopi church to the early tenlh-century, Compare the stepped cornice of ihe domes
2
{8 XAPITI{PION DIE . I(. OPAANAON REVNTMbNTS {9
.H.S. TfGAW ]]YZ.{.NTINE RD TICUL TJl
tiling alternates u'ith courses of dressed stone on the main arse, frorn tlie which completely cover the
clentil course at the level of the arch springing up to the corniceas. an early tlate. For the reticulate revetments'
m' square are-used5o' In this and other
3) The Koimesis at Ano Lampovo, near Argyrohastro, in souther.n drutns oI the domes, tiles 0'10 m' to 0'11
Albauia (pl. IV b )ft. respectstlreycorrespondcloselytotherevetmentsoftheGreekchurchesand,
that the technique reached Ca-
1'his has been regarded as a late twelfth-century church on the testimony p a c e Bettini, it is no innovation to suggest
not be surprising in the conditions
of a paintcd inscription round the base of l,he clome, whioh has neyer bee labria from Greecerl. Such connections .'o.rid
in south Italy under
publishecl, so far as I know, and which Versahis could not reacl from the that followecl the recovery br Byzantium of its possessions
groundas. Rasil I.
The type o the church is earlya6. The high cylindrical dorneaz and the Thisshortlistmighthavebeenextended.byincludingthoseofthechur-
ches in Kastoria in w}ich tile re'etments
are used. Millet recognised that
semi-circular apses are in l<eeping rvith the tenth-century sl,yle. Except for
these are primitive examrles of the techrrique,
employing rough building
some dentil courses and bands of brick set vertically, the whole of the upper
preserve them is br no means
part of the church is rn.etted rvith tiles set in different arrangemets in suc- bricks6z. gut the date of ihe ch.rches rvhich
agreed ancl this is no place for a detailed assessment
of the evidence' If some
cessive bands, but without any large reticulate area: single tiles set diagonally give further
and filled out rvith triangular half-tiles; triangular tiles alone; and square tiles of tem were put in itre tenth century or earlieros, this would
analogous revet-
set erect, irr which respect they recall the patt,erned tiles of the Kalamata support to the view here put forward that reticulate and
ment,s rvere charaoteristic of Byzautirre church-building
at the beginning
church. 'l'hese square tiles bear diagonal incisions, evidently made before fir- (pl. IX a), as the only
ing, a feature recurring in some of the Kastoria churches referrecl to below. of the N{iddle }yzarttirre periotl. The Koubelitiki
clomecl church, offers thc best clitcria for dating' Il
has just those featules
1i) Thc Cattolica at Stilo ir"r Calabria (pl. V a)a8. drun
This church has commonly been assigned. to the eleventh century or even rvhich are to be expected at a relatively early clate: lall dome, cylindrical
latct', llut the serni-circulal apses antl the ovlindrical form of the domes is mole and semi-circular apses. If, howeYer, the Kastoria churches date after the
overth|ow of the Bulgars by Basil II in 10185a, retention by their builders
of for.ms rvhich at that-date might bc regarded as I' e t ar d at air e s would
characteristic ol an earlier phaseao. The presence of five clomes is no irnpediment
to a tenth-century date since this was a feature ol the Nea of Basil I atl il, re-
ruot be surprising in this rather remote location'
curs in the 'legea chul'ch for which, as we have seen, there are glouncls for 'Iwo facts are beyond dispute, In the first place the revetments o1 the
of the demolished churcli of the Proplietlllias in Athens anil St. Gerrnanos near Lake prespa I(astoria churches are the closest to those of Ano Lampovo: they employ the
(see above p. t6 and note 34). same rather large tiles, often set erect55, and often with the same diagonal
+a rliis example rvas hnorvn to l{rr,r-pr
(op. cit. p. zsl) from one of. J. Laurcnl's incisions56. Secondly, the church of the Taxiarch provides a prototype for the
photographs.
44 F. \ERSAKIs, '4p1. '89. 1916, p. reticulate decoration on the clerestory walls of St. Basil at Arta, a prototype
108-11&, figs. 1, B and Ba. photograph by G. pan_
taziclon in lI. 'E),4v. 'Eyxuxonr,8elu IB', 847.
a6 It u'as believed to refer to a twelfth-century
50 IIoRTA TuEoronu, op. cit. p. 175.
reconstruotion oI a church of rc time 5r Ibid. p.176.
of Justinian (VuRsarrs, loc. cit. p, Lll\. 52 Iu,LET, op. cit. p. 260, note 3.
a6 Discussed rvith those of transitional
date (Early to l\,Iiddle Byzantine) by tr{.rnr,r r,e professor PELEKANTDEs has clated the origina frescoes in St. Stephen's and tlie Tax-
G. sornrou, rlpaxr. Xpcor. 'Agx. 'Err,pe 1982, p, rrg. It is of inscribecl-cross iype, bt
rvith the arms of the cross closed-off by colonnades so that in plan it approximates to the iarch,s in lhe ninth century (Kuogfu, I, Thessaloniki 1933, p.r7).This early dating is
ambulatory type of I'Ioclia-l'Iustafa-Paa-Cami ("A. vAN Mr,r,incpx, 2zantine Churclzes in not at var.iance with the architecture insofar as these small basilican churches lit by clere-
story winclolvs have affinity ivith St. Anne's atTrebizond, erectecl in A.D. 884/5 (Mu'lnr,
Constantinole,London 1912, p. 118, fig. 86). Bal,l'x-
a? cf. Episkopi church ncar Karpenisi Les Monastres et les glises de Trbizonde, BCH XIX, 1895, p.434 and443f';snLINA
(om,allos, BMD @, 1961, p. r-20 ancl fiEs. cn, The B2zantine Churche.s of Trebizontl, Anatolian Studies X, p' 154-155 and figs' 8-9)'
1, 2, 4 antl 5); st. John at Mesembria (x{avRoDrNov, op. cit. fig. 84 antl Bb;A.
Raurrr- 54 ORI,ANDOS, ABMD A, 1938' P. 6,
Nov, glises de Msennria, Sofia f g32, p. Xltt, and the Panaxiotissa at Gavrolirnini
lOrr- 5 As in ttre east gable of St. Stephen's (ibid. p. 1{0, fig. 77) anct the continuous
LANDos, AB,ID A' tg3b, p. I2If. figs. {_2).
48 I{ORIA TnloooRu, I'es glises band belou, the eaves of St. Nicholas Kasnitzi (ibid. p. 139, fig. 96, p. 140, fig' 97 )'
cinq couoles en Calabrie, Ephemeris Dacoromana 56 Koubelitiki (ibid. p. 11'2, note 1); St' Stephen (ibid' p' 112); St. Nicholas Kasnitzi
IV 1930, p. 149-181, rvith referertces to earlier publications. My pl. a is reprodcecl from
E.II. FrESHrtnt,, Cellae Ttichorae, I, (ibicl. p. {38). In the laiter case the tiles measure 0' 33 by 0'21 m' They are similar to
t9l3, pl. zr7. tliose uicd in the nall construction. Tre incisions are 0.02 m. rvide and as much
dcep,
+o Compare tre churcJr in the
Moni Petraki and others cited in NIme. Sorrtrou,s give the that each rcctangle comprises four trian-
sf,ucly of this early r\thcrrian crrurcrr (aerc. xpr,oc. 'Apx. 'Err,pe aq B, 196016r, p. and are fitecl with mortar to impression
, t0l-127 ). gular pieccs.
20 x A.PI'TIIPION EI' A. I(, PAANAON
which is par.ticularly notervorthv. sirr13, prior to the Battle of Pelagonia
(A.D. 125b), Kastoria rvas intermittently subject to the Despotat. And even
It tlr" early eleventh-century datirrg for the Kastoria churohes is preferred,
they serye to filt-out the picture of a wide dispersal of reticulate tile revet-
ments in Macedonia, Albania and Southern Greece, under the Emperors of
the Macedonian Dynasty. 'fhe isolated example in Calabria, in a church of
uncJuestionable Byzantine style, is best regarded as an or-rl,lier of this group,
not as its progenitor.
There are fhen strong indications that when this technique crossed the
Adriatic it did so in a westery, not an easferly direclion. Yef, if it is correctly
derived from Roman opus reticulatum does this not support the
contrary view that it was a western development later adopled by Byzantium ?
It is true that the characteristic Roman masonry technique which it evohes
was more widely used in Italy than elsewhere, but ii was not limited to the
lvestern provinces. Orlandos has cit,ed an example at Olympia in the <tl-Iouse
of Nero>57, several others are to be seen jn the ruins of Nikopolis, and its
currercy in Asia X'Iinor is attested inter alia by the leticulate Raths at
Elaeusa-Sebastess and by the existence at Arnasla (the ancient Aniastris )
of two Roman buildings ernploying this techniquese. If it is claimed that rvest-
ern contemporaries of these buildings served to inspire the Carolingian and
Romanesque examples of reticulate and parti-colonred masorry) may not
the opus reticulatum of lhcse buildings of the Roman period in
Byzanline territory have lil<ewise inspired fhe reticulate revetments which
enjoyed such a vogue in Byzanline churches of the tenfh century ?
The two Byzantine churches at Amasra published by Professor Iyice
afford strong support for tliis independent derivation. They employ true
opus reticulatum, ulilising cubilia salvaged from the nearby
Roman buildings, in just the same anangement as bhe reticr-rlate revetments
employed in the four churches described abor.e. In lhat l<nown as Fatih Camii
reticulale masonry fills the spandrels between the three apse windows as
well as a deep band encircling the apse above them (pl. VI a)60. In Kilisse Camii,
a smaller church of laller proporlions, the central parf of the apse is damaged
but the remains of two smaller but narrower bands in the same position sunrive
t'7 Obtmia II, Die Baudenkniler, Berlin 1892, Text p. 75.
e J. I(nrL ancl A. \\rrlunr,rr, Denkmciler aus dem Rauhen Kilikicn (lI..i\I.A. III), ,\ian-
chester 1931, p. 222 andpl.56, 171; J. B. W. Pnnnrxs in The Great Palace of the Bltzantine
Emerors, Second Report, Eclinburgh 1958, p. 82 ancl p. 25, A,B ancl D.
s That knotvn as the BedesLcn (S. llvrcr, Deux anciennes glises futz-antines de la
Citadelle d' Amasra (Pahlagonie), Cahicrs Arcliologiques VII (1954) pl. XXX\TII, 1),
and another (ibid. p. 100, note 1).
60 lbid. pl. XXX\rII 1.I am much indebted t,o Professor C. llango for conmunical,ing
the photograph here reproduced and to Professor Eyice for communicating olhers.
A.H.S. III4G,{W BYZANTIN]I N,ETICUI,ATE REVDTMDNTS
24,
ot eitlet siile{r. It is nol, knorvl whett tltesc
chrtrches rvere buill, but Eyice rca-
sonably suggests thtrl t'hev may have bcen erected
during lhe rcconsl'ruction
of Amstr. after.its devastation in A.D.
g60, hy the Russian raiders who
failecl ln teir attacl< on Constartinople62. If tliat is so' these examples in the
East of the levival of Ioman opus reliculatum are coniemporary
with their carolingian counterparts. There may be some connection between
these two revivals, and if there is, ihe practice in the East
rn'orrld at bhat tirne
[ave been more likelVto inspirethe Carolingian buildersthan vice yeISa'
However that rnay lte, it is now unnecessary to seeh outside the Byzantine
spere the rnoclels for the reticulate revehnenis of the tenth-century clrur-
ches in the East, which follow the Amasra apses so closely'
If te t|is type of external decoration originated independcntly in the
East, it may seem surprising ihat no early example is to be seen in t'he chur-
ches of Constantinople itself. Howevcr, clecorative briclc-work of any kind
is r.are iu the surviving rnonuments there befole tlte eleverttlt ceutury, and lhe
probability is that the principal churches of the carital were designed fol a
rnore sumrtuous form of external dccoration, as Diehl lorlg ago srrggesteclcs.
l"ew of the survivol's al'e in a concliticln ir lviriclt l,hey carr be closely slLrtliecl,
but in the case of one cliulch of the earlv benth centuly there is sorne eyidence
that the exterior was sheathed, at least in part, u'ibh levclrneuts of rnarble6{.
That rnarble-faced chnrches $ere once a familiar sight in Consiantinople
could be argued from the marble exteriors of their imitators, such as Sl.Marh's
at Venice; perhaps also from those of Stephen Nemanja's church at Stude-
nica, and even the Panayia Gorgoepikoos in Athens. The smooth ashlar ma-
sorry occasionally employed in Greece, where it offers a stliking contrast to
the elaborate blick decoration so dear to the local church-builderso5, would
be less surprising if this also could be shown to reflect lost marble facades of
Constantinopolitan churches. Nor, in considering the austere exteriors lhat
the snn'ivors now present, should the possibility be excluded that in some
cases they were designed to receive a covering of mosaics in the upper zones.
61 lbid. pl. XXXVIII, 2.
62 Ibid. p. 105.
at Mantrcl d'art bl,,zantinz Paris {925, p. L52.
0+The Theotokos churcli of Constantine Lips, consecrated in 908, forrning the northern
component of the doulie church ntiw known as Fenari Isa Camii. The evidencc is on the
western part of the north lvall, rvhich recent excavations have shown rvas an external face,
not masked by any subsidiary strncture (NIEGAw in Dumbarton Oaks Papers l'1 , 4.96J,
p.335).
o E.B. St. Ncholas in the Fields (h l{upntJ near Skripou-Orcliomenos (R. W.
ScuUr-tz anrl S. BRssr,nr, The Monastery of St. Luke of Stiris in Phocis, l,onclon 1901,
p.56). A distant link of this irind rvith the churchcs of the capital rvould not besur.prising
in this case, in view of the imperial patronage with which tradition endorvs [,he parent
monastery of Hosios Loukas.
 22 XAPIETTIPION NIE A. 1(. OPAANAON
Tlie mosaics surviving on ihe exterior of the basilica at Parenzo and those
ouce to be seen elsewhere, including the Justinianic facade at Bethlehem,
seem to warrant this speculation.
Tliis is nof to say that tile-revetments of the type here discussecl cannot
have been employed on lenth century churches in constantinople. They may
well have been employed on humbler buildings now losf. But when, at a
relalively late date, areas of reliculate and parti-coloured decoration appear
with other ornamental brick lreatments on the facades of the Tekfur Seray,
it remains preferable to assign these to lhe influence of a lradition more
firmly rooted in the Balkan area, as Brunov, Beltini and others suggested66.
In that case the uniformify of the Middle Byzantine reticulate revetments
in Greece and elsewhere can hardly be attributable to dissemination from
the capital. Their original home in the Byzantine area cannot, al present be
located, lhough the Amasra churches are suggesiive.z. can it be that, as
Istanbul today recruifs its masons in Anatolia, so under the Macedonian
Emperors the great demand for church-builders in Hellas and bevond, as
Ryzantine authority was restored, was met from the same quarler? what
is beyond doubt is that it is no longer necessary to seek outside the Byzantine
sphere the parentage of the reticulate revetment which, within it, was once so
prevalent on church facades. On the olher hand, what this treatment has in com-
mon with weslern rcvetment and masonry techniques is not necessarily at-
tribulable to Byzantine influence in the Wesf. The collateral Roman anceslry
of the two traditions and fheir separate borrowings from the archilectural
achievemenls of Islam must also har.e been potent factors.
Athens A. FI. S. MEGA\,V
66 R. LEYER-PLATH and . M. Scrnnrnnn, Die
Landmauer uon Konstantinoel,
{943, pls. 45a, 47a, and p.99.
6? Significant in this connection is the suggestion recently made
by Professor On-
LANDoS ('H napnyogtrto6a... op. cit. p. 33) that the reticulate diapers used in the
painfed decoration of some of the rock-cut Cappoclocian churches imitate external tile
revetments. This linds support in the initial linear dccoration of some of these churches,
whicli often clearly represent external arcritectural treatments. In the new church at
Toqali Kilisse there are bancls of lozenges (G. Dn JnRpumrow, Les glises ruestres de Ca-
adoce,pls.70, 83, 7 and.2 and 85, 3) as well as reticulate diapcrs (ibid. pls. 70 and 75, I ).
EXPLORATIONS ARCHOLOGIQUES SOUS.MARINES SUR LE
LIII'TORAL NORD DU PONT, EN 1957.L962
En ce clui corcerne la l'ive septentrionale clu Pont Jluxin nous rle dispo-
sons pas de tmoignages aussi pr'cis que ceux que tous possdons sur la
disparition de Hlikt, engloutie par la mer ar.ant la bataille de Leuctres2.
Nanmoins, par suite de I'affouillement prolong des ctes, ou de leur enva-
hissement par la mer, les ruines des nornbreuses villes dLr nord de la i\{er Noire
ont t part'iellement engiouties par les flots. Par suite de cela, au lond de
la mer, non loin de I'emplacement de ces villes, ont tlt faites diffrentes trou-
vailles. Ainsi, ds les annes 20 du XIXc sicle, au fond du golfe de Taman,
prs de I'antique Phanagolia) on a dcour.ert, et remont la surface, deux
grands lions de marbre. Ces statues se trouvent maintenant alr muse tle Tho-
tlosia .
Naturellement, des objets de I' Anticluit et clu l'Ioyen :\ge, des ampho-
les surtout, se rencontrent non seuletnent prs des villes antiques, mais aussi
en d'autres rgions de la X'Ier Noire et de la tr'ler d' Azor.. Ces trour.ailles, pour
la plupart des restes de cargaisons de vaisseaux nauft'ags, ont t retires
du fond de la mer par cles pcheurs, ou remontes lors d'autres travaux.
La submersion partielle des villes anticluesdulitloral nord de la 1\4er Noire
a t note par les savants russes ds le sicle dernier. A. S. Ouvaroffs
indicluail,, par exemple, que la partie littorale d'Olbia se trouvait sous les eaux
du liman du Buga. Plus tard, ce fait a attir I'attention du savant spcialiste
il'Olbia, nolre minent archologue 13. Pharmakovskys.
En 1894, au cours de travaux dans le porl de Thodosia, on a dcouvert
les restes d'un ntle aniique, dont il s'tait conserr' jusqu' 4.000 pointes de
pieux en bois de pin, profondment enfonces dans la vase. A ct de cet en-
droit, en 1905, des recherches archologiques sous-marines furent effec-
1 PoLYts. II, 41,7.
z Le tmoignage de Pline I' Ancien sur Pyrua et Antissa est incertaiu, ct jusqu' pr-
Berlin
sent on ne peut tirer de conclusions dlinitives sur ce point. (Pr-rN., r.H. II, $ 206).
3 A. OuveRory-: Etudts sur les Antiquit.s de la Russi mridionale et des riaes de la mer Noire
(en russe), Fascictlo I. SPb. 1851 , p. lr0.
+ D' antiques constructions submerges ont t remarques galement sur les rives
du iltroit de l(ertch. (F. Grr-lr, Antiquits du Boshore Ciintmrien, SPb. 1854, I, p. CI\, re-
rralqrre 4; I(. Clnnz, Toograhie archologir1trc de Ia rcst1u'le tle Tunan (t:n russr:), {oscott
'l 870, p. 88 ).
5 . PFIAnTIAT(o\sr(y, OLbia (en nrssc), tr{oscou 1915, p. 23.