DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61894#0191
Ch. IV.
THROUGH ITALY.
161
architectural beauty anti magnitude are the only
objects of my present observations. Now the
whole extent of the platform on which the tem-
ple stood, with all its surrounding porticos, is
scarcely equal to the space covered by the church
of St. Peter itself, and inferior to the circular
part alone of the portico before it, which is
seven hundred and seventy feet in its greatest,
and six hundred in its least diameter. It is sup-
ported by two hundred and eighty pillars, forty-
five feet high, and with its entablature and
statues it rises to the elevation of seventy. Thus
in extent, height, and number of columns it
surpasses the Jewish portico, which enclosed the
temple and all its edifices. Now if we consider
that this colonnade is a part only of the portico
of St. Peter’s, and if we add to it the galleries
that connect it with the church, and enclose a
space of three hundred and thirty feet by three
hundred and eighty, and if to this vast field of
architectural grandeur we superadd the foun-
tains and the pyramids, we shall find that the
appendages to the temple of Jerusalem must
yield in greatness to those of the Roman Basilica.
As to the front of the temple itself, and its simi-
litude to that of a palace ; in this respect St.
Peter’s unfortunately resembles it too much;
but in extent it far exceeds it, as the former was
VOL, II. M
THROUGH ITALY.
161
architectural beauty anti magnitude are the only
objects of my present observations. Now the
whole extent of the platform on which the tem-
ple stood, with all its surrounding porticos, is
scarcely equal to the space covered by the church
of St. Peter itself, and inferior to the circular
part alone of the portico before it, which is
seven hundred and seventy feet in its greatest,
and six hundred in its least diameter. It is sup-
ported by two hundred and eighty pillars, forty-
five feet high, and with its entablature and
statues it rises to the elevation of seventy. Thus
in extent, height, and number of columns it
surpasses the Jewish portico, which enclosed the
temple and all its edifices. Now if we consider
that this colonnade is a part only of the portico
of St. Peter’s, and if we add to it the galleries
that connect it with the church, and enclose a
space of three hundred and thirty feet by three
hundred and eighty, and if to this vast field of
architectural grandeur we superadd the foun-
tains and the pyramids, we shall find that the
appendages to the temple of Jerusalem must
yield in greatness to those of the Roman Basilica.
As to the front of the temple itself, and its simi-
litude to that of a palace ; in this respect St.
Peter’s unfortunately resembles it too much;
but in extent it far exceeds it, as the former was
VOL, II. M