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 tion 262 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xl years had elapsed, was humbled by an earthquake, which over- threw the eastern part of the dome. Its splendour was again restored by the perseverance of the same prince ; and in the thirty-sixth year of his reign Justinian celebrated the second dedication of a temple, which remains, after twelve centuries, a stately monument of his fame. The architecture of St. Sophia, which is now converted into the principal mosch, has been imitated by the Turkish sultans, and that venerable pile con- tinues to excite the fond admiration of the Greeks, and the Descrip- more rational curiosity of European travellers. The eye of the spectator is disappointed by an irregular prospect of half domes and shelving roofs ; the western front, the principal approach, is destitute of simplicity and magnificence ; and the scale of dimensions has been much surpassed by several of the Latin cathedrals. But the architect who first erected an aerial cupola is entitled to the praise of bold design and skilful exe- cution. The dome of St. Sophia, illuminated by four and twenty windows, is formed with so small a curve that the depth is equal only to one-sixth of its diameter ; the measure of that diameter is one hundred and fifteen feet ; and the lofty centre, where a crescent has supplanted the cross, rises to the per- pendicular height of one hundred and eighty feet above the pavement. The circle which encompasses the dome lightly reposes on four strong arches, and their weight is firmly supported by four massy piles whose strength is assisted on the northern and southern sides by four columns of Egyptian granite. A Greek cross, inscribed in a quadrangle, represents the form of the edifice ; the exact breadth is two hundred and forty-three feet, and two hundred and sixty-nine may be as- signed for the extreme length from the sanctuary in the east to the nine western doors which open into the vestibule, and from thence into the narthex or exterior portico. That portico was the humble station of the penitents. The nave or body of the church was filled by the congregation of the faithful ; but the two sexes were prudently distinguished, and the upper and lower galleries were allotted for the more private devotion of the women. Be- yond the northern and southern piles, a balustrade, terminated on either side by the thrones of the emperor and the patriarch, divided the nave from the choir ; and the space, as far as the steps of the altar, was occupied by the clergy and singers. The altar