The original date on the gate also remains in spite of the attempt to obliterate it. SS. Sergius and Bacchus was one of the sanctuaries of the city to which the emperor paid an annual visit in state.[105] Upon his arrival at the church he proceeded to the gallery and lighted tapers at an oratory which stood in the western part of the gallery, immediately above the Royal Gates, or principal entrance to the church. He went next to the chapel dedicated to the Theotokos, also in the gallery, and after attending to his private devotions there, took his place in the parakypticon ([Greek: en tô parakyptikô tou thysiastêriou)], at the north-eastern or south-eastern end of the gallery, whence he could overlook the bema and follow the public service at the altar.[106] In due course the Communion elements were brought and administered to him in the chapel of the Theotokos; he then retired to the metatorion (a portion of the gallery screened off with curtains), while the members of his suite also partook of the Communion in that chapel. At the close of the service he and his guests partook of some light refreshments, biscuits and wine, in a part of the gallery fitted up for that purpose, and thereafter returned to the palace. _Architectural Features_ In the description of the architectural features of the church and for the plans and most of the illustrations in this chapter I am under deep obligation to Mr. A. E. Henderson, F.S.A. The information gained from him in my frequent visits to the church in his company, and from his masterly article on the church which appeared in the _Builder_ of January 1906, has been invaluable. In design the church is an octagonal building roofed with a dome and enclosed by a rectangle, with a narthex along the west side. This was a favourite type of ecclesiastical architecture, and is seen also in another church of the same period, San Vitale of Ravenna, in which Justinian and Theodora were interested. There, however, the octagonal interior is placed within an octagonal enclosure. The adoption of a rectangular exterior in the Constantinopolitan sanctuary is a characteristic Byzantine feature.[107] S. Vitale was founded in 526, a year before SS. Sergius and Bacchus. [Illustration: PLATE XIII. (1) SS. SERGIUS AND BACCHUS. FROM THE SOUTH-EAST. (2) SS. SERGIUS AND BACCHUS. IN THE GALLERY OVER THE NARTHEX. _To face page 70._] As an examination of the plan will show, the architect's design has not been followed with strict accuracy, and the result is that both the enclosing square and the interior octagon are very irregular figures. Furthermore, the two portions of the building have not the same orientation, so that the octagon stands askew within its rectangular frame. How this lack of symmetry should be explained, whether due to sloven work or the result of the effort to adapt the church to the lines of the earlier church of SS. Peter and Paul, with which it was united, is difficult to decide.