A church dedicated to the Divine Wisdom (Santa Sophia) was built by Constantine in the twentieth year of his reign. This building was burnt down in the year 404, and having been rebuilt by Theodosius, was again destroyed by fire. The vast pile, which still remains one of the chief ornaments of Constantinople, and which is now used as a Mahometan mosque, dates from the reign of Justinian. That magnificent prince determined to build "the grandest monument ever erected by the hand of man." Seven years were occupied in collecting materials from every part of the world, and nine were employed in the actual building. Columns of marble from the Temples of the Sun at Palmyra and of Diana at Ephesus, bricks of perfect form and remarkable durability from the island of Rhodes, were brought at immense cost to complete the edifice. Gold and mosaics were spread over the surface, and paintings on gold and costly marbles covered the walls. The church of St. Sophia, which once contained so many splendours, now retains within it but few traces of its former glory. The imposing proportions of the building still remain, but the walls are bare, and upon the dome the Crescent has replaced the Cross. The narrative of Benjamin of Tudela goes on to describe a "place where the king diverts himself, called the hippodrome near to the wall of the palace.[20] There it is that every year, on the day of the birth of Jesus the Nazarene, the king gives a grand entertainment. There are represented by magic arts before the king and queen, figures of all kinds of men that exist in the world; thither also are taken lions, bears, tigers, and wild asses, which are made to fight together, as well as birds. There is no such a sight to be seen in all the world."[21] [Illustration: STATUE OF GODFREY DE BOUILLON, BRUSSELS. (_From a Photograph by Alexandre, Brussels._)]