6. He also founded a
Benedictine monastery near, which soon became the richest in Istria by
its connection with Ravenna, endowed the convent of S. Andrea, and built
a house for the rector of the basilica. The site of the abbey is now
occupied by the buildings of the Hotel Central and other houses in the
parallel streets Via Minerva and Via Abbazia. It was a basilican church
with nave, and aisles raised two steps above it. There were ten columns
on each side, with varied capitals. The aisles were vaulted, and the
semi-dome of the apse was decorated with mosaics on a gold ground. The
high-altar was under a baldacchino; there was a throne for the abbot,
and seats in the choir for the monks. The windows were small and
round-headed, filled with pierced slabs. The ancient door of entrance is
between Nos. 27 and 33, Via Abbazia--a round arch simply moulded, with a
dentil round the tympanum and a lintel below. The nave stretched along
the space now occupied by the stable-yard of the hotel, and the wall of
the north aisle forms part of the stables. It has external pilaster
strips opposite to the places where the columns of the nave arcade
stood. The apse, with triumphal arch, still exists, and two round
chapels which flanked it and were entered from the aisles; one of them
was dedicated to the Madonna del Carmelo, and the other to S. Andrew.

[Illustration: PLAN OF S. MARIA FORMOSA, POLA]

The S. Maria del Canneto of to-day is a cruciform chapel which lay to
the right, and has an apsidal eastern end. The entrance is past the
kitchen of the hotel; and from a window of an upstairs corridor one can
"assist" at Mass when it is performed, for the church is entirely
enclosed in the hotel buildings. The arms of the cross have wagon
vaults; at the crossing is a quadripartite vault with ribs and central
oculus on a higher level; rough projections along the ribs suggest the
copying of leaf ribs of early mosaics. It is about 22 ft. 6 in. high,
and there is a window in each wall. The roof shows ancient material and
in some parts the ancient manner of using tiles. On the face of the
bell-turret a piece of eighth-century carving is fixed. The walls are
now whitewashed, and the floor covered with red tiles. The round chapel
to the left of the apse has a cupola with an oculus and a lantern at the
top. There are still remains of the mosaic pavement of the apse in No.
20, Via Minerva: in 1898, when building the stables, some fragments were
found