South Aisle.—“On the south you will see a long aisle as on the north, yet made bigger. For a part is separated off from the nave by a wall, and here the emperor takes his accustomed seat on the solemn festivals, and listens to the reading of the sacred books.
Gynaecea.—“And whoever mounts will find on both sides of the church the aisles for women similar to those below, and there is yet another, though not like those on either side, above the narthex.
Atrium.—“Now on the western side of this divine church you will see a great open court (aule) surrounded by four cloisters. One of these joins on to the narthex, but the others spread round the sides, where stand their several paths. In the very centre of the wide garth stands a spacious phiale, cleft from the Iassian peaks; and from it bubbling water gushes forth and throws a stream into the air, leaping up from the pressure of the brazen pipe—a stream that purges away all suffering, when the people, in the month of the golden vestments[73] at the mystic feast of Christ, draw the unsullied waters in vessels by night. And the water shows the power of God; for never will you find decay on its surface, even if it remains in its vessel, and away from the fountain for more than a year.[74]
“Everywhere the walls glitter with wondrous designs, the stone for which came from the quarries of seagirt Proconnesus. The marbles are cut and joined like painted patterns, and in stones formed into squares or eight-sided figures the veins meet to form devices; and the stones show also the forms of living creatures.
“And on either side along the flanks and outskirts (antuges) of the beautiful church, you would see open courts (aulai). These were all planned about the building with cunning skill, that it might be bathed all round by the bright light of day.
The Marbles.—“Yet who, even in the measures of Homer, shall sing the marble pastures gathered on the lofty walls and spreading pavement of the mighty church? These the iron with its metal tooth has gnawed—the fresh green from Carystus, and many-coloured marble from the Phrygian range, in which a rosy blush mingles with white, or it shines bright with flowers of deep red and silver. There is a wealth of porphyry too, powdered with bright stars, that has once laden the river boat on the broad Nile. You would see an emerald green from Sparta, and the glittering marble with wavy veins, which the tool has worked in the deep bosom of the Iassian hills, showing slanting streaks blood-red and livid white. From the Lydian creek came the bright stone mingled with streaks of red. Stone too there is that the Lybian sun, warming with his golden light, has nurtured in the deep-bosomed clefts of the hills of the Moors, of crocus colour glittering like gold; and the product of the Celtic crags, a wealth of crystals, like milk poured here and there on a flesh of glittering black. There is the precious onyx, as if gold were shining through it: and the marble that the land of Atrax yields, not from some upland glen, but from the level plains; in parts fresh green as the sea or emerald stone, or again like blue cornflowers in grass, with here and there a drift of fallen snow,—a sweet mingled contrast on the dark shining surface.
Sectile and carved Spandrils.—“Before I come to the glitter of the mosaic,[75] I must describe how the mason (laotoros), weaving together with skill thin slabs of marble, has figured on the flat surface of the walls intertwining curves laden with plenteous fruit, and baskets, and flowers, and birds sitting on the twigs. And the curved pattern of a twining vine with shoots like golden ringlets, weaves a winding chain of clusters; little by little does it put forth shoots, until it overshadows all the stone near with ripples like beauteous tresses. Such ornament as this surrounds the church.
The Capitals.—“And the lofty crest of every column, beneath the marble abacus (peze), is covered with many a supple curve of waving acanthus—a wandering chain of barbed points all golden, full of grace. Thus the marble in bulging forms crowns the deep red columns, as wool the distaff; the stone glittering with a beauty that charms the heart.
The Floor.—“And gladly have the hills of Proconnesus bent their backs to necessity, and strewed the floor with marble. In parts too shimmers the polish of the Bosporus stone, with white streaks on black.
The Mosaic.—“Now the vaulting is formed of many a little square (psephos) of gold cemented together. And the golden stream of glittering rays pours down and strikes the eyes of men, so that they can scarcely bear to look. One might say that one gazed upon the midday sun in spring, what time he gilds each mountain height.