ut we have
an excellent example of an oriental basilica of the same date still
standing in the church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, rebuilt by Justinian
in the 6th century (fig. 20). Here we find an oblong atrium, a vestibule or
narthex, double aisles with Corinthian columns, and a transept, each end of
which terminates in an apse, in addition to that in the usual position.
Beneath the centre of the transept is the subterranean church of the
Nativity (Vogue, _Les Eglises de la Terre Sainte_, p. 46).

Constantinople preserved till recently a basilican church of the 5th
century, that of St John Studios, 463, now a ruin. It had a nave and side
aisles divided by columns supporting a horizontal entablature, with another
order supporting arches forming a gallery above. There was the usual
apsidal termination. The chief difference between the Eastern and Roman
basilicas is in the galleries. This feature is very rare in the West, and
only occurs in some few examples, the antiquity of which is questioned at
Rome but never at Ravenna. It is, on the other hand, a characteristic
feature of Eastern churches, the galleries being intended for women, for
whom privacy was more studied than in the West (Salzenberg, _Altchrist.
Baudenkmale von Constantinople_).

[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Plan of church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. 1,
Narthex; 2, nave; 3, 3, aisles.]

Other basilican churches in the East which deserve notice are those of the
monastery of St Catherine on Mt. Sinai built by Justinian, that of Dana
between Antioch and Bir of the same date, St Philip at Athens, Bosra in
Arabia, Xanthus in Lycia, and the very noble church of St Demetrius at
Thessalonica. Views and descriptions of most of these may be found in
Texier and Pullan's _Byzantine Architecture_, Couchaud's _Choix d'eglises
byzantines_, and the works of the count de Vogue. In the Roman province of
North Africa there are abundant remains of early Christian churches, and S.
Gsell, _Les Monuments antiques de l'Algerie_, has noticed more than 130
examples. Basilicas of strictly early Christian date are not now to be met
with in France, Spain or Germany, but the interesting though very plain
"Basse Oeuvre" at Beauvais may date from Carolingian times, while Germany
can show at Michelstadt in the Odenwald an unaltered basilica of the time
of Charles the Great. The fine-columned basilica of St Mauritius, near
Hildesheim, dates from the 11th century, and the basilican form has be