 The best @-@ known feature of the Church of Christ Pantocrator is the rich and colourful decoration of its exterior walls . The most lavishly decorated part of the church is the east side with the apse , and as a whole all sides of the church exhibit different ornamentation . <unk> strips of three or four rows of bricks and carved stones , which create an optical pattern , are the most basic type of decoration used . <unk> of blind arches , four @-@ <unk> floral motifs , triangular ornaments , circular turquoise ceramics and brick <unk> <unk> run along the east wall . <unk> <unk> the appearance of the church 's superimposed arcades to an <unk> ; an earlier example of that configuration can be observed in the <unk> church of <unk> <unk> near <unk> , Turkey . The inclusion of <unk> in the decoration is considered unusual and curious to tourists . It is explained by the medieval use of the <unk> as a symbol of the Sun . 
