The elaborate interior of the inner southern apse.
The elaborate interior of the inner southern apse.
The structure here is more complex than any of the other apses,
it is literally all niches and altar installations.
The temple apses are usually reasonably symmetrical either side of the
temple axis, but this apse bears no resemblance
to its opposite number. Access to this apse is also unique, the usual entry from the
axial passageway is blocked by a small
pedestal altar, the apse is entered from the outer southern apse via an
elaborately decorated porthole doorway.
Given the complexity of this room and its ornate entrance, this must have been a
very important area of the temple,
a space that was key to the rituals performed here.