than in the cities of
Central and Northern Italy.

According to the classification adopted by Fergusson, the church of San
Miniato at Florence is one of the oldest examples and a good type of
this rather mixed style. It was built about the year 1013. It is
rectangular in plan, nearly three times as long as wide, with a
semicircular apse. Internally it is divided longitudinally into aisles,
and transversely into three nearly square compartments by clustered
piers, supporting two great arches which run up to the roof. The whole
of the inner compartment is occupied by a crypt or under church open to
the nave, above which is the choir and altar niche, approached by
flights of steps in the aisles. This general arrangement is followed
more or less closely in the churches at Bittonto, Bari, Altamura, Ruvo,
Galatina, Brindisi, and Barletta. The scale of the southern churches is,
however, much smaller than those of the north, the width of the nave of
the cathedral at Trani being only 50 feet, and the length 167 feet,
while the corresponding dimensions of the cathedral at Pisa, which is
referred to by Fergusson as the most notable example of this style in
the north, are 106 x 310 feet.

In these smaller churches, as far as external treatment is concerned,
the main attention is devoted to the principal facade, and here most of
the ornament is usually covered with a rich hood supported by pillars
resting on monsters, following the custom prevalent throughout Italy
during this period. Above this is either a gallery or one or two
windows, and the whole generally terminates in a circular rose window
filled with tracery.

[Illustration: X. The Principal Doorway to the Catherdral at Trani, Italy.]

Fergusson's final summing up of the architecture of this neighborhood
can scarcely be considered too enthusiastic in the light of the eight
illustrations here given. He says: "No one who takes the pains to
familiarize himself with the architecture of these Southern Italian
churches can well fail to be impressed with their beauty. That beauty
will be found, however, to arise not so much from the dimensions or
arrangement of their plans, or the form of their outline, as from the
grace and elegance of their details. Every feature displays the feeling
of an elegant and refined people, who demanded decoration as a
necessity, though they were incapable of rising to any great
architectural conception. They excelled as ornamentists, though at bes