We will now proceed to an examination of the exterior and interior of the building itself. The façade has a porch with seven arches[336], corresponding to the seven aisles of the mosque itself. The centre arch is much larger than the others; all are acutely pointed. The form of the battlements crowning the walls, the details of the niches, and the ornamental painting characterise the architecture of this part as Saracenic. On entering the mosque the keeper points out the sepulchre of the sons of Aaron, opposite to the middle door. The central or more ancient part of the building retains traces of a cruciform Christian church, being a nave with two side aisles and a transept[337]; the dimensions of the different parts also agree perfectly with this plan[338]. The walls of the nave are supported by columns bearing Corinthian capitals, which are rather overloaded with ornamental detail, in the usual bad taste of Byzantine art. From these spring pointed arches, and above them are two rows of windows with semicircular heads, of which the lower range is open, the upper built up. The pillars supporting the walls and aisles on each side are square, and very plain, except on their faces to the east, which are relieved by projecting half-columns. The two outermost aisles on each side are much lower than the others, and shew in their rough walls a very different and later style of masonry, thus proving that they were added at a subsequent period. The transept is divided from the nave by a large pointed arch, and at their intersection is a dome, rising from a cylindrical drum supported by four pillars ornamented with shafts of verd antique with Corinthian capitals. The section of the dome is slightly ovoid and the drum has pointed windows, which prove that it must have been wholly rebuilt at a date later than the original foundation of the church. Its walls on the inside are adorned in the Saracenic style with arabesques, flowers, landscapes, and mosaics (executed during the reign of Selim I. and Solyman). This mass of ornament, though devoid of taste, when combined with the coloured glass in the windows, produces an agreeable and at first sight striking effect. Behind the south arch and under the dome in the south wall is the _Mikhereb_ of the Mohammedans, indicating the _Kibla_ or direction of Mecca. This is ornamented with small shafts of porphyry and verd antique; the wall being faced with slabs of very valuable marbles of different colours; the keeper asserts that the black stone in the middle was brought from Mecca, and was taken from that given by God to Abraham, as a token of His covenant with him. On the right of this is the _Minbar_ or tribune for prayers, a magnificent work in cedar wood, executed in former times by the carvers of Aleppo; it is called _Borkan-ed-din-Khadki_, and to the right of it, is the stone with the print of our Saviour's foot, mentioned above; to speak the truth, it requires a vivid fancy to see the impression.