In the Iconoclastic era, the apse of the church was embellished with plain gold mosaics with only one great cross, similarly to the Hagia Irene in Constantinople and the Church of the Dormition in Nicaea. The cross was substituted with the image of the Theotokos (God-bearer, or Mary) in 787-797 after the victory of the Iconodules.
In the Iconoclastic age, the church's apse was decorated with plain gold mosaics and a single large cross, similar to those found in Hagia Irene and the Church of the Dormition. Later, after the Iconocules' victory, the image of the Theotokos took its place between 787-797.