Romania -- Description and travel; Romania -- History
mouldings which form a square cornice, and crowned with a dome,
pear-shaped ornament, and cross, precisely as in the cupolas of the
church itself. The windows in the body of the church and on the tambours
of the domes are very narrow, and those on the tambours or cylinders of
the smaller cupolas are curved and slope obliquely at an angle of
seventy degrees, which gives the spectator the impression that they are
leaning, somewhat in the same manner as the well-known spire at
Chesterfield. The ornamentation on the outside surpasses all powers of
description. It comprises a large corded moulding, about halfway
between the pediment and the cornice, passing right round the main
building; and circular shields above this moulding, which, along with
the windows, are decorated with the most exquisite tracery, wherein
flowers (chiefly lilies), leaves, and convoluted bands play a
conspicuous part. Everywhere, on the cornices, tambours, and balconies,
chaste wreaths and crowns of lilies add beauty and lightness to the
fabric, and give to the whole the appearance of a fairy structure.
[Illustration: TRACERY ON EXTERNAL SHIELD.]
Within, the building is less interesting; it is dimly lighted by the
narrow windows, artificial light being furnished by means of numerous
candelabra during divine service. The secondary dome is supported by
twelve Arabic pillars, and the walls and domes are decorated with
frescoes of the orthodox kind--the Saviour, Virgin, and Apostles, with
scenes from the Old and New Testament, also with portraits of princes
and bishops of the See. The length of the building inside is about 76
Vienna feet, the greatest breadth 41 feet. The height of the two domes
is 86 feet and 81 feet respectively, and of the smaller cupolas 66 feet.
If the architecture and ornamentation of the cathedral are beautiful,
the historical records which it contains are even more interesting. It
is true that great uncertainty hangs over these, as over all other
Roumanian chronicles, but certain facts in connection with the building
and its history are well established.
[Illustration: TRACERY ON EXTERNAL SHIELD.]
Its archives have been carried off by the invaders who, from time to
time, sacked and plundered its valuable treasures; but several
inscriptions inside and outside of the church, some of which are in the
Servian and old Slavonian language, and others in Roumanian, throw light
upon its history and construction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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