'This very handsomely illustrated book will be welcomed by many people interested in the art, architecture and history of Byzantium, treated here in a wide reach from Italy - with special attention to Rome - to the eastern part of the empire. Employing evocative and sometimes lyrical language, the author describes and gives rich context to ecclesiastical buildings and their decoration in ways that will pull readers into an historical past that has left such powerful, ghostly traces. The author employs a novel taxonomy for these buildings and their art that opens up the whole range of building types and functions across the empire and within its cultural orbit. And the liturgical life of these buildings, so often underplayed by scholars, is brought out fully so that readers will catch the scents, sounds and wonder of that world between the lines.' Glenn Peers, Professor of Early Medieval and Byzantine Art, The University of Texas at Austin, author of Subtle Bodies: Representing Angels in Byzantium and Sacred Shock: Framing Visual Experience in Byzantium 'Architecture takes central stage in this intriguing take on hugely important questions around the interaction of art, liturgy and symbolism in the Byzantine church. The book brings together a mass of information and detail to formulate new approaches to the classification and understanding of Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture in a broad social and religious context.' Liz James, Professor of the Art History, University of Sussex, author and editor of Light and Colour in Byzantine Art and A Companion to Byzantium