The extremities of these arches join one another in pairs, and rest at their ends upon these piers, while the other part of them rise to a great height, and are suspended in the air. Two of these arches, that is, those towards the rising and the setting sun, are constructed over the empty air, but the remainder have under them some stonework, with small columns. Now above these arches is raised a circular building of a spherical form through which the light of day first shines; for the building, I imagine, overtops the whole country, and has small openings left on purpose, so that the places where these intervals in the construction occur may serve for conductors of light. Thus far I imagine the building is not incapable of being described, even by a weak and feeble tongue. As the arches are arranged in a quadrangular figure, the stonework between them takes the shape of a triangle; the lower angle of each triangle, being compressed between the shoulders of the arches, is slender, while the upper part becomes wider as it rises in the space between them, and ends against the circle which rises from thence, forming there its remaining angles. A spherical-shaped dome standing upon this circle makes it exceedingly beautiful; from the lightness of the building it does not appear to rest upon a solid foundation, but to cover the place beneath as though it were suspended from heaven by the fabled golden chain. All these parts surprisingly joined to one another in the air, suspended one from another, and resting only on that which is next to them, form the work into one admirably harmonious whole, which spectators do not care to dwell upon for long in the mass, as each individual part attracts the eye and turns it to itself. The sight causes men to constantly change their point of view, and the spectator can nowhere point to any part which he admires more than the rest, but having viewed the art which appears everywhere, men contract their eyebrows as they look at each point, and are unable to comprehend such workmanship, but always depart thence stupified through their incapacity to comprehend it. So much for this. [Illustration: CHURCH OF S^T. SOPHIA. HALF SECTION THROUGH GREAT DOME AND TRANSEPT Vincent Brooks Day & Son] [Illustration: CHURCH OF S^T. SOPHIA. HALF PLAN ON LEVEL OF GROUND FLOOR. HALF PLAN ON LEVEL OF GALLERIES]