The stone synthronon and the frieze of fresco icons in the altar in the Church of the Ascension of Christ in Zica

The semi-circular exedra at the end of the altar apse, with a single or step-like bench and a cathedra in the centre, is among the important, focal points in the liturgical rites of the Orthodox Christian Church: the hierarchs dwells in the "upper place" several times during the Divine Liturgy. Here, in the act of enthronement, he receives the administration of his church. The synthronon is reserved for the co-administrants. The function of this part of the building soon began to influence the programme of the painted ornamentation. Among the mechanisms linking the exedra and the painting in the altar area, one can distinguish the translation of the symbolic base of the cathedra in the upper place and the synthronon in the programme and the adaptation of the ornaments to their liturgical and ritual application. The painting of the lowest zone of the apse in Žiča, the initial seat of the autocephalous Serbian church, comprises both these principles. It is testimony of the mutual inter-relationship of the function of the space, and the symbolism and painting that was created from it..