Sussita - Cathedral

Columns and piers: 

All column shafts were secondary used Roman spolia. They all integral and not collected from drums, except of basalt auxiliary shaft(s). There are two colonnades 9 shafts each in the main basilica. Their origin is usual for Late Roman period and unique for Early Byzantine: two easternmost columns are carved from green Carystean marble ("onion" marble), the next three columns in the row -- are from red Assyan granite and four westernmost shafts are from grey Troad granite. Strangely, but the shafts of the northern aisle are better preserved, than the shafts of the southern colonnade. Only two easternmost columns of Carystean marble were found and also one basalt drum-shaped column shaft, but it is attributed to the southern aisle only theoretically. All the shafts are flattish, with astragalos and apophyge, consisting of one or two fillets. The average lower and upper diameters are 69 cm and 58 cm respectevely, so all the columns have an enthasis, gradually tapering to the top. The average height is 4.70 m. There are two colonnades 3 columns each in the baptistery chapel. Column shafts are of the smaller scale and not so uniform as in the Cathedral. They are carved from grey Troad granite, red Assyan granite, dark grey marble of unknown genesis and basalt. The dark grey columns are fluted with straight canneluras, with the "blind" flutes at the the lower band (ca. 1/3 of height). There are also some red Assyan, grey Troadic, dark-grey fluted and basalt shafts in the atrium, hardly visible among the debris.

Columns and piers materials: 
Marble
Basalt
Other
Columns: 
Typology
Columns and piers: 
Monolith
Comprised of drums
Apophyges superior/inferior
Enthasis
Spolia
Bases and pedestals: 

All the Attic bases are identical in every compartment of the complex, with the lower diameter 73 cm. They are carved from Proconnesian marble and composed from torus -- scotia -- torus, with auxiliary fillets among them. The upper torus is traditionally narrower than the lower one. Surely, they are Roman spolia. Noticeably, that they are fixing the shafts and the limestone pedestals of the atrium. In the atrium one large limestone pedestal was reused as a covering of the cistern. One basalt lower drum, found in the southern aisle, is carved from the same stone with the base. The base consists from the same torus -- scotia -- torus profiles, but the tori are almost identical in their diameter, typically for the Roman West or for the Byzantine East.

Typology
Bases: 
Attic (Ionic)
Spolia
Pedestals: 
Square
Bases and pedestals materials: 
Limestone
Marble
Bases: 
Capitals: 

All the capitals in the basilica and in the chapel are Corinthian, 65 cm high. They are carved from the Proconnesian marble. Their order morphology is traditional for the Roman capitals of the 1st-2nd centuries, with 2 rows of mask-acanthus leaves, volutes and two inner helixes. The capitals of the atrium are not found.

Capitals materials: 
Marble
Capitals: 
Typology
Order: 
Corinthian
Spolia
Types of Acanthus: 
Mask
Stiff-pointed
Decoration on the abacus: 
horizontal-line
Decoration of the boss on the abacus: 
undecorated-bar
Decoration on the astragalus: 
plain-molding
Components of entablatures, arches and apses: 

see section "lintels"

Typology
Components: 
Cornice (bed molding)
Spolia
Materials of components of entablatures, arches and apses: 
Marble
Pilaster caps and bases: 

One basalt block with the profiled decoration was found scattered in the basilica hall. Convex profiles are fitting the pilaster cap or pilaster base.

Pilaster caps materials: 
Basalt
Pilaster caps and bases: 
Typology
Pilaster caps and bases: 
Attic

lintels, jambs, thresholds

Lintels, jambs, thresholds: 

One member of the basalt Ionic architrave, composed of three fasciae and cavetto, was found near the central doorway in the western wall of the basilica. Probably, it was a part of the door jamb (as in the NWC). Probably, the doorway between the basilica and the chapel was also decorated in the same manner. As a lintel of the central doorway, a Proconnesain detail was reused. Originally, it was a cornice part of the entablature of a certain bicolumnar portico or niche, adjacent to the wall. The decoration consists of several strips: egg-and-darts motif, dentils, lesbian cymation, modillions alternating with fleurons.

Typology
Lintels, jambs, thresholds: 
Lintels
Materials of lintels, jambs, thresholds: 
Marble
Basalt
Lintels and jambs: 
Chancel screen posts: 

The chancel posts are not preserved. There is basement for the chancel screen, which has six holes for the square trunks of the posts at the front side. The lateral panels were supported by the column shafts with grooves.

Chancel Screen posts materials: 
Limestone
Chancel Screen posts: 
Chancel screen plates: 

There were six panels in the chancel screen. One of the Proconnesian panel was preserved in several restorable pieces. It had a profiled frame from both sides. At the front side a small bicolumnar building with a conch and a roof was depicted. The columnettes are adorned with the Corinthian capitals, the roof is adorned with corner sharp, horn-like acroteria. In the center of the composition there is a hanging grooved lamp. At the rear side of the panel traces of the defaced dolphin are visible. Nothing in this decoration can epitomize its Christian genesis. The Greek inscription, mentioning Presbyter Procopius looks like an secondary addition.

Typology
Types: 
Blind
Decoration (Central motif): 
Architectural pattern
Zoomorphic (ram, fish, bird)
Chancel Screen plates materials: 
Marble
Chancel Screen plates: 
Pavement: 

Both aisles and bema of the Cathedral were paved in opus sectile technique. At the early photos the floor of the northern aisle was preserved almost completely, while to date only the eastern part of it is preserved up to several courses of marble tiles. From the rest pavement only one lateral course remains. The composition is simple: it comprised from two lateral courses of square tiles laid parallel and several courses of smaller square tiles laid alternately parallel and diagonally between them. Some parts are more elaborated and include lozenge-shaped flowers. Several square tiles are preserved in bema under the fallen shaft. The tiles are of greyish, pinkish, greenish and white tints and colours. Atrium was paved with basalt slabs. Baptistery chapel floor is covered with mosaic.

Typology
Pavement: 
Opus sectile
Pavement materials: 
Marble
Basalt
Other
Pavement: 
Revetment plates: 

Pieces of marble were inserted between the basalt stones of the baptistery central apse. The copper clamps in situ and colored marble slabs found scattered on the floor in the apse of the basilica indicate the marble revetment of at least some of the walls. Some glass tesserae indicate the mural mosaics in the rest part of the church.

Typology
Revetment: 
Marble slabs
Revetment plates materials: 
Marble
Other
Revetment plates: 
Other: 

Column with a recess, 12.5 cm high, 9 cm wide, with nail holes for holdong a cross or encolpion

Typology
Other: 
Decorative inlay
Other materials: 
Marble
Other: 
Lighting devices
Lighting devices type: 
metal polycandelon
metal vessel
clay lamps
glass lamps