DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26282#0072
Pachoras: The Cathedrals of Aetios, Paulos and Petros
were walled - whether the basin was rectangular
or cruciform in plan, as in the Dongolan
cathedral. The total length of the basin was
1.80 m (Godlewski 1979: 67-83).
The floor in the room was constructed of
irregularly shaped stone slabs. The missing
pavement above the baptismal font and around
it would suggest that no effort was made to pave
the floor after the basin was filled.
4.5.7. Staircase
The staircase was situated in the southwestern
part of the structure, next to the platform of the
southern entrance and accessible from the main
body of the cathedral. The proximity of the
southern passage frorn the narthex to the naos
and the southern cathedral entrance made things
easier for those using the staircase. Worth
emphasizing is the fact that these two doorways
were designed in similarity to each other with
vaulted arcades and a section of the vault on the
inside, this in contrast to the other cathedral
doorways.
The entrance on the naos side was 1.05 m
wide with a maximal height of 2.15 m; it had
a brick arch crowning it. On the inside, it was
much more elaborate, being 1.50 m wide with
a maximal height of 2.94 m and covered with
a section of vaulting. Where the springing of the
vault started, there was a horizontal beam, 0.20
by 0.20 m in size, serving to mount the revolving
door beam.
The unit holding the staircase was 5.25 by
3.20 m with a central pillar (2.70 by 1.00 m)
supporting the flights of steps and landings,
erected all the way up on a vaulted substructure.
There were three external windows giving on to
the unit: two in the southern facade and one on
the landing side. They were set some 3.10 m
above the floor. Two inside windows in the north
wall were positioned at a similar level. All of the
windows were 0.62-0.70 m wide, with a surviving
height of no more than 1.10 m, although
originally it must have been c. 1.30 m.
The steps started immediately to the left of
the entrance. The first flight, 1.10 m wide,
counted eleven fired-brick fliers, the treads each
0.22-0.24 m and the risers 0.20-0.22 m. The first
landing, measuring 1.10 by 1.10 m, was found
2.40 m above the floor level. This part of the
staircase had a vaulting preserved over it, all on
the same level with the maximum camber equal to
5.14 m above the floor.
The second flight of steps was also 1.10 m
wide, but had less fliers - only five of the same
size as before. The next landing of the same size
as before occurred at a height of 3.50 m above the
floor of the space. The vaulting here was not
preserved, the east wall of the staircase rising to
a height of 5.50 m, that is, c. 2.00 m above the
second landing.
The third flight of steps, again 1.10 m wide,
had only five fliers preserved, again of the same
dimensions as in the first flight. The third flight
probably had at least two more fliers, as suggested
by the preserved vaulting, but in all probability, it
had the same number of fliers as the first flight,
that is, eleven. Assuming this, we find that this
flight of steps would have led to a level c. 6.30 m
above the floor, the level of the roof over the
western part of the staircase. The level of the
vaulting above the northern part of the staircase
appears to exclude the possibility of the staircase
being higher and consequently of it being
connected with the functioning of galleries in
the Cathedral of Paulos.
The inside of the staircase was plastered and
whitewashed, the surface bearing three murals:
on the south, west and north walls.
4.5.8. Northwestern room
Big rectangular room running lengthwise through
the structure, 3.10 m wide and 9.00 m long, with
an entrance from the narthex. The doorway is
0.85 m wide, 1.93 m high; profiled on the inside
to a width of 1.25 m. It was covered with three
wooden beams, each mounted higher than the
first looking inward. The external one, 0.29 m
wide and 0.08 m thick, supported big stone
blocks serving as a lintel on the narthex side.
The middle beam was 0.17 by 0.15 m in cross-
section, and the inner one, 0.19 m wide and
0.08 m thick, had a sandstone lintel laid face
down on it.
Lighting the room were six windows featuring
standard dimensions of 0.65-0.70 m in width and
c. 1.30 m in height, positioned at the top of the
stone wall. One window was pierced in the
western facade, two in the northern one; the
remaining three were inside windows, opening -
two - onto the naos of the cathedral and one on
the narthex.
In the east facade of this room there was a cen-
trally positioned semicircular apse set in the
thickness of the wall; it was 1.32 m wide,
2.90 m high and 0.40 m deep. Its bottom parapet
was 0.90 m above wallcing level. The eastern end
of the south wall featured a niche located 1.35 m
above walking level, measuring 0.63 m in width,
0.72 m in height and 0.57 m in depth.
A broad bench of mud brick lined the north
wall opposite the entrance. It measured 0.45 m in
height, 095-1.12 m in width and was 1.95 m long.
In the middle of the eastern end of the room
there was a square shaft, 0.45 m to the side and
0.95 m deep, leading to a corridor that was
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PAM Supplement Series 1
were walled - whether the basin was rectangular
or cruciform in plan, as in the Dongolan
cathedral. The total length of the basin was
1.80 m (Godlewski 1979: 67-83).
The floor in the room was constructed of
irregularly shaped stone slabs. The missing
pavement above the baptismal font and around
it would suggest that no effort was made to pave
the floor after the basin was filled.
4.5.7. Staircase
The staircase was situated in the southwestern
part of the structure, next to the platform of the
southern entrance and accessible from the main
body of the cathedral. The proximity of the
southern passage frorn the narthex to the naos
and the southern cathedral entrance made things
easier for those using the staircase. Worth
emphasizing is the fact that these two doorways
were designed in similarity to each other with
vaulted arcades and a section of the vault on the
inside, this in contrast to the other cathedral
doorways.
The entrance on the naos side was 1.05 m
wide with a maximal height of 2.15 m; it had
a brick arch crowning it. On the inside, it was
much more elaborate, being 1.50 m wide with
a maximal height of 2.94 m and covered with
a section of vaulting. Where the springing of the
vault started, there was a horizontal beam, 0.20
by 0.20 m in size, serving to mount the revolving
door beam.
The unit holding the staircase was 5.25 by
3.20 m with a central pillar (2.70 by 1.00 m)
supporting the flights of steps and landings,
erected all the way up on a vaulted substructure.
There were three external windows giving on to
the unit: two in the southern facade and one on
the landing side. They were set some 3.10 m
above the floor. Two inside windows in the north
wall were positioned at a similar level. All of the
windows were 0.62-0.70 m wide, with a surviving
height of no more than 1.10 m, although
originally it must have been c. 1.30 m.
The steps started immediately to the left of
the entrance. The first flight, 1.10 m wide,
counted eleven fired-brick fliers, the treads each
0.22-0.24 m and the risers 0.20-0.22 m. The first
landing, measuring 1.10 by 1.10 m, was found
2.40 m above the floor level. This part of the
staircase had a vaulting preserved over it, all on
the same level with the maximum camber equal to
5.14 m above the floor.
The second flight of steps was also 1.10 m
wide, but had less fliers - only five of the same
size as before. The next landing of the same size
as before occurred at a height of 3.50 m above the
floor of the space. The vaulting here was not
preserved, the east wall of the staircase rising to
a height of 5.50 m, that is, c. 2.00 m above the
second landing.
The third flight of steps, again 1.10 m wide,
had only five fliers preserved, again of the same
dimensions as in the first flight. The third flight
probably had at least two more fliers, as suggested
by the preserved vaulting, but in all probability, it
had the same number of fliers as the first flight,
that is, eleven. Assuming this, we find that this
flight of steps would have led to a level c. 6.30 m
above the floor, the level of the roof over the
western part of the staircase. The level of the
vaulting above the northern part of the staircase
appears to exclude the possibility of the staircase
being higher and consequently of it being
connected with the functioning of galleries in
the Cathedral of Paulos.
The inside of the staircase was plastered and
whitewashed, the surface bearing three murals:
on the south, west and north walls.
4.5.8. Northwestern room
Big rectangular room running lengthwise through
the structure, 3.10 m wide and 9.00 m long, with
an entrance from the narthex. The doorway is
0.85 m wide, 1.93 m high; profiled on the inside
to a width of 1.25 m. It was covered with three
wooden beams, each mounted higher than the
first looking inward. The external one, 0.29 m
wide and 0.08 m thick, supported big stone
blocks serving as a lintel on the narthex side.
The middle beam was 0.17 by 0.15 m in cross-
section, and the inner one, 0.19 m wide and
0.08 m thick, had a sandstone lintel laid face
down on it.
Lighting the room were six windows featuring
standard dimensions of 0.65-0.70 m in width and
c. 1.30 m in height, positioned at the top of the
stone wall. One window was pierced in the
western facade, two in the northern one; the
remaining three were inside windows, opening -
two - onto the naos of the cathedral and one on
the narthex.
In the east facade of this room there was a cen-
trally positioned semicircular apse set in the
thickness of the wall; it was 1.32 m wide,
2.90 m high and 0.40 m deep. Its bottom parapet
was 0.90 m above wallcing level. The eastern end
of the south wall featured a niche located 1.35 m
above walking level, measuring 0.63 m in width,
0.72 m in height and 0.57 m in depth.
A broad bench of mud brick lined the north
wall opposite the entrance. It measured 0.45 m in
height, 095-1.12 m in width and was 1.95 m long.
In the middle of the eastern end of the room
there was a square shaft, 0.45 m to the side and
0.95 m deep, leading to a corridor that was
68
PAM Supplement Series 1