| During the 300's, the basilica became the most common form of church design. |
| In the vast basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano the priests bustled like beetles around the baldacchino as they presided over Midnight Mass. |
| The church plan, vaguely reminiscent of a classical basilica, is a simple asymmetric rectangle. |
| When your turn to enter the basilica finally arrives, you must bend down before a low doorway and step over the raised threshold. |
| To the left of this tower are the walls that surround the basilica itself, as solid and crenellated as a castle keep. |
| They rebuilt the old basilica into a grand, very flamboyant Gothic edifice. |
