After our survey of Moorish architecture, we backtracked several weeks in our history lessons to the Byzantine Empire. St Augustine’s historical downtown is also home to the St Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine, with a lot of wonderful examples of Byzantine art and iconography.

The shrine also has several holy relics, including an altar made with bone fragments of St Theodora. Theodora, wife of the Byzantine ruler Justinian, is one of E’s favorite people from history. Before being empress of the Byzantine Empire, Theodora was a circus performer with her family and trained bears.