DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29899#0578
558
SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE.
Part III.
Avas a copy of Sta. Sophia. There is, indeed, nothing in the style we
are now speaking of so remarkable as the admiration which that great
creation of the Christians excited in the minds of its Moslem possessors.
There are in or about Constantinople at least 100 mosques erected
in' the four centuries during which the Turks have possessed that city.
Not one of these is a pillared court, like those of Egypt or Syria, nor
an arcaded square, like those of Persia or India—none are even extended
basilicas, like those of Barbary or Spain. All are copies, more or less
modihed, of Sta. Sophia ; and many of the modifications are no doubt
improvements ; but none are erected with the same dimensions, none
possess the same wonderful richness of decoration, or approach the
poetry of design, of their prototype. In all that constitutes greatness
in architectural art, the Christian Church still stands unrivalled.
No one who has stood beneath the dome of Sta. Sophia will
hesitate to admit that the Turks were perfectly justified in their
admiration of Justinian’s great creation ; but the curious thing is, that
no Christian ever appreciated its beauties. When, after the troubles
of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Greeks again took to building
churches, it was such as Sta. Irene, or the Theotokos, churches like
those at Pitzounda or Ani, or those of Greece or Mount Athos. Not
one single direct copy of Sta. Sophia by Christian hands exists, so far
as is known, in the whole world. But the Turk saw and seized its
beauties at a glance ; and, by constancy to his first affection, saved
his architecture from the utter feebleness which has characteiûzed that
of Western Europe during the four centuries which he has been in
encamped on this side of the Bosphorus.
Among the other mosques built by Mahomet II., the most sacred is
that of Eyub, the standard-bearer of the Prophet, whose body is said
to have been found on the site of the mosque. Plans and drawings
of this rnosque might easily have been obtained while our armies
occupied Constantinople during the Crimean war ; but the opportunity
was neglected, and all we have to depend upon is an eye-sketch by
Ali Bey. 1 As the rnosque in which each Sultan on his accession is
girt with the sacred sword, and as the most holy in the empire, it
would be interesting to know more about it, but we must wait.
The mosque of Bayazid, 1497-1505, is of the usual type, but not
characterized by any extraordinary magnificence. In the mosque of
Selim, 1520-26, the dome and its pendentives are carried by eight
octagonal piers, reverting therefore to the principle of St. Sergius as
regards supports ; these piers, however, stand free within the walls, so
that there is apparently greater space provided ; the dome has a diameter
of 108 ft., being the largest built by the Turks, that of Suleimanie
mosque being 93 ft. in diameter, and of Sultan Ahmed 63 ft.
1 Plate Ixxxii.
SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE.
Part III.
Avas a copy of Sta. Sophia. There is, indeed, nothing in the style we
are now speaking of so remarkable as the admiration which that great
creation of the Christians excited in the minds of its Moslem possessors.
There are in or about Constantinople at least 100 mosques erected
in' the four centuries during which the Turks have possessed that city.
Not one of these is a pillared court, like those of Egypt or Syria, nor
an arcaded square, like those of Persia or India—none are even extended
basilicas, like those of Barbary or Spain. All are copies, more or less
modihed, of Sta. Sophia ; and many of the modifications are no doubt
improvements ; but none are erected with the same dimensions, none
possess the same wonderful richness of decoration, or approach the
poetry of design, of their prototype. In all that constitutes greatness
in architectural art, the Christian Church still stands unrivalled.
No one who has stood beneath the dome of Sta. Sophia will
hesitate to admit that the Turks were perfectly justified in their
admiration of Justinian’s great creation ; but the curious thing is, that
no Christian ever appreciated its beauties. When, after the troubles
of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Greeks again took to building
churches, it was such as Sta. Irene, or the Theotokos, churches like
those at Pitzounda or Ani, or those of Greece or Mount Athos. Not
one single direct copy of Sta. Sophia by Christian hands exists, so far
as is known, in the whole world. But the Turk saw and seized its
beauties at a glance ; and, by constancy to his first affection, saved
his architecture from the utter feebleness which has characteiûzed that
of Western Europe during the four centuries which he has been in
encamped on this side of the Bosphorus.
Among the other mosques built by Mahomet II., the most sacred is
that of Eyub, the standard-bearer of the Prophet, whose body is said
to have been found on the site of the mosque. Plans and drawings
of this rnosque might easily have been obtained while our armies
occupied Constantinople during the Crimean war ; but the opportunity
was neglected, and all we have to depend upon is an eye-sketch by
Ali Bey. 1 As the rnosque in which each Sultan on his accession is
girt with the sacred sword, and as the most holy in the empire, it
would be interesting to know more about it, but we must wait.
The mosque of Bayazid, 1497-1505, is of the usual type, but not
characterized by any extraordinary magnificence. In the mosque of
Selim, 1520-26, the dome and its pendentives are carried by eight
octagonal piers, reverting therefore to the principle of St. Sergius as
regards supports ; these piers, however, stand free within the walls, so
that there is apparently greater space provided ; the dome has a diameter
of 108 ft., being the largest built by the Turks, that of Suleimanie
mosque being 93 ft. in diameter, and of Sultan Ahmed 63 ft.
1 Plate Ixxxii.