The gospel and epistle are still read from the ambo in the Ambrosian rite at Milan.
The position of the ambo was not absolutely uniform; sometimes in the central point between the sanctuary and the nave, sometimes in the middle of the church, and sometimes at one or both of the sides of the chancel.
The normal ambo, when the church contained only one, had three stages or degrees, one above the other, and it was usually mounted by a flight of steps at each end.
The inconvenience of having a single ambo led to the substitution of two separate ambones, between which these various functions were divided, one on the south side of the chancel being for the reading of the gospel, and one on the north for reading the epistle.
In the Russian Orthodox Church the term "ambo" is used of the semicircular steps leading to the platform in front of the iconostasis, but in cathedrals the bishop has an ambo in the centre of the church.