Hagia Eirene, a superb sample of the early Byzantine architecture, is well worth seeing, as it preserves several interesting features not seen in Istanbul's other Byzantine churches. Among others, in the apse there is a large mosaic of a simple black cross on a gold background, dating from the iconoclastic period in the 8th century, when all figurative images were forbidden. Although the cross is made on the sphere area, it looks as it is flat and hanging in the air. (Location: Istanbul)

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