DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29899#0560
540
SAEACENIC ARCHITECTURE.
Part. III.
It covers an area of a little over 100,000 square ft. of which about
one-third is covered over and forms the prayer chamber. The great
court measures 220 X 176 ft. with double-aisled corridors on the east
and west side ; other buildings partially enclosed on the north side,
with a lofty tower, thirty feet square, in the centre and surmounted
by a small dome. In this tower is a marble
staircase, with Roman fragments of the time
of Trajan and Aurelius Antoninus.
The prayer-chamber is entered from the
court by thirteen archways, all circular and
horseshoe. The central entrance (Woodcut
988) to the principal aisle consists of a lofty
horseshoe arch of two orders, with a square
low tower and surmounted by a fluted dome.
The prayer-chamber consists of a central aisle
with eight aisles on eàch side, all running in
the direction of the Mecca wall, with cross-
arcading at various intervals. The aisles are
separated one from the other by columns all
taken from earlier buildings, carrying horse-
shoe arches, the columns in the central aisle
being twenty-two feet high, and occasionally
coupled together or in tiûplets ; those of the
aisles being fifteen feet high. The capitals
are mainly taken from Roman buildings ;
some, however, are Byzantine, and are carved
with birds and flowers. The arches are all
tied together by wooden beams and iron rods.
The inihrab is surmounted by a fluted dome
on hexagonal base, containing richly coloured
glass windows, and the mihrab niche is
lined with marble and Byzantine mosaic and
flanked by porphyry columns. The chief
entrance is through a porch on the west
y»». îvmiaret. at lunis. 0
(Frum Girauit de Prangey.) side and is carried up as a tower, and there
are four other minor entrances.
Tunis possesses some noble edifices, not so old as this, but still of a
good age ; but except the minaret represented in the annexecl woodcut
(BTo. 989), none of them have yet been drawn in such a manner as to
enable us to judge either what they a.re or what rank they are entitled
to as works of art. This minaret is one of the finest specimens of a
particular class. It possesses none of the grace or elaborate beauty of
detail of those at Cairo ; but the beautiful proportion of the shaft, and
the appropriate half-military style of its ornaments, render it singulai ly
jileasing. The upper part also is well proportioned, though altered to
SAEACENIC ARCHITECTURE.
Part. III.
It covers an area of a little over 100,000 square ft. of which about
one-third is covered over and forms the prayer chamber. The great
court measures 220 X 176 ft. with double-aisled corridors on the east
and west side ; other buildings partially enclosed on the north side,
with a lofty tower, thirty feet square, in the centre and surmounted
by a small dome. In this tower is a marble
staircase, with Roman fragments of the time
of Trajan and Aurelius Antoninus.
The prayer-chamber is entered from the
court by thirteen archways, all circular and
horseshoe. The central entrance (Woodcut
988) to the principal aisle consists of a lofty
horseshoe arch of two orders, with a square
low tower and surmounted by a fluted dome.
The prayer-chamber consists of a central aisle
with eight aisles on eàch side, all running in
the direction of the Mecca wall, with cross-
arcading at various intervals. The aisles are
separated one from the other by columns all
taken from earlier buildings, carrying horse-
shoe arches, the columns in the central aisle
being twenty-two feet high, and occasionally
coupled together or in tiûplets ; those of the
aisles being fifteen feet high. The capitals
are mainly taken from Roman buildings ;
some, however, are Byzantine, and are carved
with birds and flowers. The arches are all
tied together by wooden beams and iron rods.
The inihrab is surmounted by a fluted dome
on hexagonal base, containing richly coloured
glass windows, and the mihrab niche is
lined with marble and Byzantine mosaic and
flanked by porphyry columns. The chief
entrance is through a porch on the west
y»». îvmiaret. at lunis. 0
(Frum Girauit de Prangey.) side and is carried up as a tower, and there
are four other minor entrances.
Tunis possesses some noble edifices, not so old as this, but still of a
good age ; but except the minaret represented in the annexecl woodcut
(BTo. 989), none of them have yet been drawn in such a manner as to
enable us to judge either what they a.re or what rank they are entitled
to as works of art. This minaret is one of the finest specimens of a
particular class. It possesses none of the grace or elaborate beauty of
detail of those at Cairo ; but the beautiful proportion of the shaft, and
the appropriate half-military style of its ornaments, render it singulai ly
jileasing. The upper part also is well proportioned, though altered to