Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/478

462 BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE. Part II. among the great styles of the earth. The old Byzantine style was elevated to a first-class position through the buildings of Justinian ; but from his time the history of the art is a history of decline, like that of the Eastern Empire itself, and of Greece, down to the final extinction both of the Empire and the style, under the successive conquests by the Venetians and the Turks. The only special claim which the Neo-Byzantine style makes upon our sympathies or atten- tion is that of being the direct descendant of Greek and Roman art. As such, it forms a connecting link between the past and present which must not be overlooked, while in itself it has sufiicient merit to reward the student who shall apply himself to its elucidation. Domestic Architecture. It is more than probable that very considerable remains of the civil or domestic architecture of the Neo-Byzantine period may still be recovered. Most of their palaces or public buildings have con- tinued to be occupied by their successors, but the habits of Turkish life are singularly opposed to the prying of the archaeologist. Almost the only building which has been brought to light and illustrated is the 23alace of the Hebdomon at Blachernae in Constantinople. All that remains of it, however, is a block of buildings ,80 ft. by 40 in plan, forming one end of a court-yard ; those at the other end, which were more extensive, being too mucli ruined to be restored. The parts that remain probably belong to the 9th century, and consist of two halls, one over the other, the lower supported by pillars carrying vaults, the ujiper free. The facade towards the court is of consid- erable elegance, being adorned by a mosaic of bricks of various colors, disposed in graceful patterns, and forming an architectural decoration which, if not of the highest class, is very appropriate for domestic architecture. One great cause of the deficiency of examples may be the com- bustibility of the capital. They may have been destroyed in the various fires, and outside Constantinople the number of large cities and their wealth and importance was gradually decreasing, till the capital itself sunk into the power of the Turks in the year 1453.