Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/555

Rh Bk. I. Ch. IV". TURKEY, 539 was 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 ai*e 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 modified, of Sta. Sophia; and many of the moditications 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 Pit- zounda or Ani, or those of Greece or Mount Athos. Not one single direct copy of Sta. Sophia by Christinn 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 archi- tecture from the utter feebleness which has characterized that of Western Europe during the four centuries in which he has been 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 mosque might easily have been obtained while our armies oc- cupied Constantinople during the Crimean war ; but the opportunity was neglected, and all we have to depend upon is an eye-sketch by Ali Bey.-^ As the mosque 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, 1497-150.5, is of the usual type, but not characterized by any extraordinary magnificence. That of Selim I., 1520-1526, has the character of possessing the largest dome of any mosque in the city. I am not aware that it was ever measured, and it does not leave that impression on the eye ; but the building is remarkable for the simplicity of its design, and the general propriety of its proportions. 1 Plate Ixxxii.