Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/541

Rh Bk. I. Ch. III. SPAIN. 52.5 thus com2:»leting the mosque to a parallelogram of 420 ft. by 375 ; ^' it covers, therefore, 157,500 square feet, being a larger superficies than that of any Christian church except St. Peter's at Rome. It is, how- ever, sadly deficient in height, being only about 30 ft. high to the roofs, and also wants subordination of parts, all the aisles being nearly of the same width, about 22 ft., except the central one of the original eleven, which is 5 ft. wider ; the 33 transverse aisles are all .similar in breadth ; so that altogether it is as deficient in design as the "hall of a thousand columns" of a Hindu temple, and produces ])retty nearly the same effect. So completely has the building been al- tered by various repairs and the intrusion of a modern cathedral into its centre, that it is diffi- cult tounderstand many of the orijrinal arrano;e- ments, especially how it was lighted, for the few doors towards the court and on the sides would not suflice, and there is no appearrtnce of a clerestory in the centre. The original roof, however, which was of wood richly carved and painted, has been removed, and brick vaults/substituted. My own impression is that the upper part of the side-walls was originally an open arcade or colonnade on the two sides at least, which is confirmed by the fact that the side-aisles are narrower than the others exactly by the thickness of the walls; so that, if the walls were low, with columns standing on the outer edo-e, the width of these aisles would be uniform with the rest. The Sanctuary was rebuilt by the Caliph Hakeem, a. d. 965, and is 971. Interior of Sanctuary at Cordoba. (From a Drawing by Girauit de Prangey.) ' Notwithstanding the number of plans pubhshed of this edifice, it is ex- tremely difficult to ascertain its exact dimensions. Murphy, in his plans, makes them 628 X 440, whereas the scale of his plans shows .570X405. Le Normand's two plans differ considerably from one another. The above is about the mean.