<P> Major churches dating to this period include Hagia Eirene in Constantinople, which was rebuilt in the 760s following its destruction by an earthquake in 740 . The interior of Hagia Eirene, which is dominated by a large mosaic cross in the apse, is one of the best - preserved examples of iconoclastic church decoration . The church of Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki was also rebuilt in the late 8th century . </P> <P> Certain churches built outside of the empire during this period, but decorated in a figural, "Byzantine," style, may also bear witness to the continuing activities of Byzantine artists . Particularly important in this regard are the original mosaics of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen (since either destroyed or heavily restored) and the frescoes in the Church of Maria foris portas in Castelseprio . </P> <P> The rulings of the Council of Hieria were reversed by a new church council in 843, celebrated to this day in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy ." In 867, the installation of a new apse mosaic in Hagia Sophia depicting the Virgin and Child was celebrated by the Patriarch Photios in a famous homily as a victory over the evils of iconoclasm . Later in the same year, the Emperor Basil I, called "the Macedonian," acceded to the throne; as a result the following period of Byzantine art has sometimes been called the "Macedonian Renaissance", although the term is doubly problematic (it was neither "Macedonian", nor, strictly speaking, a "Renaissance"). </P> <P> In the 9th and 10th centuries the Empire's military situation improved, and patronage of art and architecture increased . New churches were commissioned, and the standard architectural form (the "cross-in - square") and decorative scheme of the Middle Byzantine church were standardised . Major surviving examples include Hosios Loukas in Boeotia, the Daphni Monastery near Athens and Nea Moni on Chios . </P>

Importance of light in byzantine art and architecture