the chronicler Einhard recorded how it looked at the turn of the ninth century: it was, he said, “a church of great beauty . . . adorned with gold and silver and lamps and with railings and portals made of solid bronze.” Much of this splendor had been imported from many miles away. “Since [Charlemagne] could not procure columns and marble from anywhere else he took the trouble to have them brought from Rome and Ravenna.”
