DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5310#0111
VIEW OF THE INSIDE OF SANTA SOPHIA.
This view of tlie interior of Santa Sophia at Constantinople was taken in 1786, from
tlie gallery allotted to the Turkish women. The plan of this mosque is almost square,
being two hundred and fifty-two feet long, and two hundred and twenty-eight wide.
In the centre is a large cupola, of one hundred and eight feet diameter, surrounded
by twenty-four windows; this cupola is supported by four large stone pilasters, upon
which rest four arches, and a wide projecting cornice with balusters abovc; this balus-
trade serves as a support to the impost of the vault of the cupola. From the centre
of the cupola to the pavement is eighty feet; between the pilasters there is a colon-
nade of forty columns of four feet in diameter; upon the capitals are arches, and above
the arches, sixty other lesser columns with arches above them, forming two galleries.
These columns are chiefly of verde antique, there are some however of porphyry,
serpentine, and white marble; the shafts are of the same size almost from top to
bottom, and the bases and capitals are singular, not in the smallest degree resembling
the Greek orders. The great cupola is flanked by two smaller ones. At the bottom,
fronting the east, is a semicircular cupola, under which was the altar, where the Alcoran
is now placed. The roof is of stone, and the cupola was ornamented with mosaic
work, pieces of which are still visible. The walls were originally painted, but have
since been defaced. The pavement is of inlaid marbles of different colours. There
are nine doors to the mosque; the principal one, of bronze, is in the centre. The
inside of this mosque strikes the spectator on entering with admiration, from its size
and proportion; but the exterior is heavy, surrounded by supports, and the front is
niean and ill built. Justinian, to build this temple, deprived the professors of the dif-
ferent sciences of their stipends, imposed taxes, and to cover the cupola with lead,
took up all the leaden pipes which conveyed the water to the fountains. Soon after
this edifice was erected, the cupola was destroyed by an earthquake, but was rebuilt
by order of Justinian; and it is said, for greater lightness, that the whole was com-
posed of pumice stone. Since the Turks have converted this templc into a mosque,
they have erected in front of the building several domes and some small chapels of
marble, with cupolas which serve as mausoleums of the Ottoman family; and corres-
ponding to the four angles of the mosque, they have erected four minarets, or isolated
steeples, where the Turks, at certain fixed hours, invite the people to prayers.
The Turks have placed in the cupola, &c. different Arabic inscriptions, of which
the following are translations :
INSCRIPTION IN THE INTERIOR PART OF THE CUPOLA OF SANTA SOPHIA.
In the name of God merciful and compassionate!
God is the light of heaven and of earth, hke to whose light are almost the Aurora
mornings in the purest crystal; they are hke to a resplcndent planet which takes light
from the blessed tree, from the olive in the east and in the west, so that his oil shines
49
This view of tlie interior of Santa Sophia at Constantinople was taken in 1786, from
tlie gallery allotted to the Turkish women. The plan of this mosque is almost square,
being two hundred and fifty-two feet long, and two hundred and twenty-eight wide.
In the centre is a large cupola, of one hundred and eight feet diameter, surrounded
by twenty-four windows; this cupola is supported by four large stone pilasters, upon
which rest four arches, and a wide projecting cornice with balusters abovc; this balus-
trade serves as a support to the impost of the vault of the cupola. From the centre
of the cupola to the pavement is eighty feet; between the pilasters there is a colon-
nade of forty columns of four feet in diameter; upon the capitals are arches, and above
the arches, sixty other lesser columns with arches above them, forming two galleries.
These columns are chiefly of verde antique, there are some however of porphyry,
serpentine, and white marble; the shafts are of the same size almost from top to
bottom, and the bases and capitals are singular, not in the smallest degree resembling
the Greek orders. The great cupola is flanked by two smaller ones. At the bottom,
fronting the east, is a semicircular cupola, under which was the altar, where the Alcoran
is now placed. The roof is of stone, and the cupola was ornamented with mosaic
work, pieces of which are still visible. The walls were originally painted, but have
since been defaced. The pavement is of inlaid marbles of different colours. There
are nine doors to the mosque; the principal one, of bronze, is in the centre. The
inside of this mosque strikes the spectator on entering with admiration, from its size
and proportion; but the exterior is heavy, surrounded by supports, and the front is
niean and ill built. Justinian, to build this temple, deprived the professors of the dif-
ferent sciences of their stipends, imposed taxes, and to cover the cupola with lead,
took up all the leaden pipes which conveyed the water to the fountains. Soon after
this edifice was erected, the cupola was destroyed by an earthquake, but was rebuilt
by order of Justinian; and it is said, for greater lightness, that the whole was com-
posed of pumice stone. Since the Turks have converted this templc into a mosque,
they have erected in front of the building several domes and some small chapels of
marble, with cupolas which serve as mausoleums of the Ottoman family; and corres-
ponding to the four angles of the mosque, they have erected four minarets, or isolated
steeples, where the Turks, at certain fixed hours, invite the people to prayers.
The Turks have placed in the cupola, &c. different Arabic inscriptions, of which
the following are translations :
INSCRIPTION IN THE INTERIOR PART OF THE CUPOLA OF SANTA SOPHIA.
In the name of God merciful and compassionate!
God is the light of heaven and of earth, hke to whose light are almost the Aurora
mornings in the purest crystal; they are hke to a resplcndent planet which takes light
from the blessed tree, from the olive in the east and in the west, so that his oil shines
49