The Round Church includes three sections: the wide atrium (or courtyard), the narthex and the cella (also naos or, due to its shape, rotunda), each serving as a premise to the other.[19][23][38][41] The sections were not necessarily built at the same time, and it is generally accepted that a reconstruction of the church was carried out some time after its completion.[50] Mavrodinov and archaeologist Karel Škorpil believe the narthex and cella comprised the first building period, while the atrium was added very shortly after that and by the same architect.[26]
The church has a total length of 38.5 m (126 ft), including the atrium.[26] It was mostly built of rectangular limestone blocks sparingly joined with mortar. Inside the apse, the mortar is red-coloured.[51] The floor was covered by marble and stone tiles glued on top of red mortar in the narthex and white mortar elsewhere.[23] Red and yellow bricks and pieces of bricks were used for the atrium, the arches, and possibly the dome; some brick pieces were used to fill spaces between the stones on the walls.[25]
[edit] Atrium
The outermost part of the Round Church is its atrium, the flanked open space leading into the narthex. It is accessed by means of three gates (one on each wall), of which the entrance on the main west wall is the most elaborate and grandest in appearance. The atrium is almost square in shape and measures 12.20 × 14.30 m (40.0 × 46.9 ft). A water well was constructed in the middle of the courtyard;[16][23] it was linked to a water conduit.[52]
The sides of the atrium are decorated by a multitude of vaults with piers in between. In total, there are fourteen vaults: four on each of the courtyard's three walls and one each where the west wall meets the sides. The atrium includes an equal number of round limestone columns each standing opposite one of the piers, 0.60 m (2.0 ft) apart.[23][44]
[edit] Narthex
Five marble columns near the walls of a partially-preserved building. A gate and a small monument are in the background.
View from the centre of the rotunda west towards the atrium
The rectangular narthex constitutes the middle part of the building, between the atrium and the cella, and serves as the lobby of the church. It lies directly east of the atrium, through a wide gate flanked by a couple of high circular turrets.[16][43][53] Mavrodinov likens the narthex of the Round Church to similar structures in the churches of Mount Athos, because of its depth.[26]
Together with the north and south wall, the entrance of the narthex effectively isolates two smaller parts of the atrium, similar in plan[16] and accessible through doors. The north part includes a small necropolis, while the south part was probably a baptistery, as it features a square installation with a clay pipe that resembles a baptismal font. However, Nikolova considers its shape much too unusual and its depth unsuitable for baptism, and believes it may instead have been designed as a vessel for dispensing holy water.[54]
Measuring 5 × 9.50 m (16 × 31.17 ft), the narthex is the part of the Round Church which has survived in best shape, as some of its walls reach 3 m (9.8 ft). Its two turrets have a diameter of 3.20 m (10.5 ft); each has an entrance facing the interior of the narthex and three windows. The higher reaches of the towers were reached via spiral stairways, archaeological remains of which have been unearthed in the north turret. There are two pairs of columns inside the narthex,[16] supporting its second floor, which is accessible from the north tower.[43][53] The columns divide the narthex into three naves and mark the way from the narthex entrance to the gates of the rotunda.[26][55]Free Psychics hypnotherapy
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