The ancient form of the tholoid hut is still in use by shepherds today. Shepherd's tholoid hut in Italian countryside.

Portrait of Eusebius with inscription "Anima Dulcis". Museo Vaticano.

Christ sitting on the orb of the cosmos surrounded by apostles with Mary flanked by angels on the circumference of the dome.

Close up shot of Dome of Hagia Sophia. From church to mosque under Kemal Ataturk, the mosque became a museum.

Note the steps leading up to the apse and in the center-left the two visible squares with holes on which once stood two of the columns supporting the baldacchino over the altar.

Bishop's throne beneath the mosaic of Sant'Agnese.

Medium shot of balconies illustrating (at street level) the length to which builders went to bury the floor of the church into the hillside so that the altar could be directly above the grave of the martyr.

Apse of Agios Georgios with vestiges of the apse mosaic showing Christ.

Under the fastigium the emperor revealed himself to his subjects. The fastigium was familiar in its use in temple architecture. Fastigium in Diocletian's Palace shot between two columns.

The wealthy also erected immense mausolea in the form of heroa to glorify their memory such as this one on the ancient Appian Way. Mausoleo/heroum on the ancient Appian Way, South of Rome.