# Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of the Early Christian Temples of the Roman Fortress of Pitiunt
## 3 Results and Discussion
This suggests that the temple was not fully explored. This may be the reason for the absence of the bases of additional pillars. The walls of the temple were for the most part covered in ancient times by the walls and the stylobates of the columns of Basilica Nos. 2 and 3. From the small sections of wall preserved in the apse, it is clear that the wall lacked pilasters at the transition from the hall to the apse. Therefore, it is illogical to assume that the arch between the naos and the apse was supported by the pillars in the wall, considering the strong tensile loads on the walls. Consequently, the existence of the vault between the naos and apse in the construction of Temple No. 1 is excluded. Digital modelling in CAD LIRA confirmed our assumption that the structure of the temple with thin, long and high walls would be unstable without rigid horizontal connections in the upper part of the building, such as roof trusses. It is unclear what provided the strength and stability of the building, as archaeological research has not revealed any pilasters or other structural elements that could have strengthened the structure. It must be acknowledged that the archaeological material found at Pitiunt Temple No. 1 is insufficient to find a solution that would guarantee the stability and strength of the longitudinal walls, which are 20 m long, 10 m high and 0.7 m thick. In addition, it is worth noting that the temple was constructed using marine conglomerate, a less durable material than stone blocks. Thus, we conclude that we do not have sufficient data to reconstruct the interior of Temple No. 1. However, we propose the following appearance of the temple, which corresponds to the architectural ideas of the period, on the basis of the established foundation contours and the inferred vertical dimensions (see Figure 4). An analysis of the vertical dimensions suggests that the width of the hall was most often related to its height in a ratio of 1:1 or 3:4, based on the surviving fourth-century hall constructions. The wall thickness (0.7 m) makes it impossible to use the second option. The Basilica of Constantine in Trier (310 AD) is a remarkable example of a synchronous monument with a hall cross-section ratio close to 1:1. The stability and strength of the building's construction is ensured by the presence of pilasters on the outside of the longitudinal walls and a strong arch separating the hall from the apse, which connects the longitudinal walls transversely. The hall is 27 m wide, and the walls have a total thickness of 2.7 m.  
Based on these observations, it is concluded that the temple's short existence was due to the fact that the stability of the structure depended solely on the horizontal connections of the roof trusses. Temple No. 2 was built on the location of Temple No. 1 in the mid- to late fourth century. It is a three-nave basilica with a polyhedral apse of irregular shape covering all three naves. The apse has six facets, two of which are smooth on both the inside and the outside. This is the most luxurious temple in the complex. The floor is decorated with mosaics, and the naves are separated by marble columns. The altar wall is decorated with marble columns connected at the bottom by marble slabs with carved ornaments and covered at the top by a three-part architave [5]. In the centre of the apse, there is a trapezoidal platform with two steps in front of it, decorated with mosaics. The temple has a spacious narthex on its western side. Towards the southern end of the interior, there is a cross-shaped baptistery. The temple's dimensions, as determined by photogrammetry, are as follows: the length along the central axis from east to west is 29.1 m, the total length (due to the asymmetry of the apse and parallelogram of the plan) is 29.4 m, the width across the central axis is 13.9 m, and the width of the temple along the western wall is 14.1 m. Similar to Temple No. 1, the temple also has a parallelogram plan with an angle of approximately 4 degrees.