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since it is fittingly more boastful than is customary and more modest than is measureless, and it abounds preternaturally with light and 1.1.30 the rays of the sun. You might say that the space is not illuminated by the sun from without, but that the radiance is born within it, so great an abundance of light is poured all around into this 1.1.31 sanctuary. And the facade of the church (this would be the part toward the rising sun, where they perform the sacred mysteries for God) has been fashioned 1.1.32 in the following manner. A certain structure rises from the ground, not built in a straight line, but receding slightly at the sides and giving way in the middle, forming the shape of half a circle, which those skilled in such things call a semi-cylinder, and it rises to a sheer height. 1.1.33 The summit of this work is crowned with a quarter of a sphere, and above it another crescent-shaped structure is raised upon the adjoining parts of the building, marvelous for its beauty, but altogether terrifying 1.1.34 for the seeming precariousness of its construction. For it seems somehow to be suspended not on a firm foundation, but to hang perilously over those within. And yet it is supported with extraordinary firmness and security. 1.1.35 On either side of these are columns on the floor, not themselves standing in a straight line, but receding inward in the shape of a semicircle as if in a dance, and above them 1.1.36 hangs a crescent-shaped structure. Opposite the eastern part a wall has been erected that has the entrances, and on either side of it the columns and the structures above them stand in a semicircle, very similar to those that have been described. 1.1.37 In the middle of the church rise four man-made eminences, which they call piers, two towards the north and two towards the south wind, opposite and equal to each other, with about four columns between each pair. 1.1.38 These eminences are constructed of huge stones, chosen and skillfully fitted to one another by the masons, to a great height. You would liken them to sheer mountain peaks. 1.1.39 Upon these rise four arches in a quadrilateral; and their ends, coming together in pairs, rest upon the summit of these eminences, while the other 1.1.40 parts are suspended, rising to an infinite height. Two of the arches rise over the empty air, towards the rising and setting sun, but the remaining ones have a certain structure and very small columns 1.1.41 beneath them. And above them a circular structure is raised in a circle; from which the day 1.1.42 first always smiles. For it rises, I think, above the whole earth, and the structure has small openings, left intentionally just so large, so that the spaces where the structure happens to be divided may be sufficient conductors of light. 1.1.43 But these things, I think, will not be impossible even for a lisping and weak-voiced tongue; and the junction of the arches having been worked out in a square, the work between them has been brought to completion in four 1.1.44 triangles. And the base of each triangle, being compressed by the junction of the arches with one another, makes the lower angle acute, but as it rises for the rest of its course it broadens out into the space between and ends in the circular structure which it supports, and it makes the remaining 1.1.45 angles there. And rising from this circular structure, an exceedingly large spherical dome 1.1.46 makes it exceptionally beautiful. And it seems to stand not upon solid masonry, because of the openings in the construction, but with its golden sphere let down from heaven 1.1.47 to cover the space. And all these things, fitted together against expectation in mid-air, and suspended from one another and resting only on what is next to them, produce a single and most marvelous harmony in the work, and they do not allow the spectators to linger their gaze for long on any one of them, but each one draws the eye 1.1.48 and very easily transfers it to itself. And the shifting of the view is always rapid, for the viewer to select

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ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦ ξυνειθισμένου κομπωδεστέρα καὶ τοῦ ἀμέτρου κοσμιωτέρα ἐπιεικῶς ἐστι, φωτὶ δὲ καὶ 1.1.30 ἡλίου μαρμαρυγαῖς ὑπερφυῶς πλήθει. φαίης ἂν οὐκ ἔξωθεν καταλάμπεσθαι ἡλίῳ τὸν χῶρον, ἀλλὰ τὴν αἴγλην ἐν αὐτῷ φύεσθαι, τοσαύτη τις φωτὸς περιουσία ἐς τοῦτο 1.1.31 δὴ τὸ ἱερὸν περικέχυται. καὶ τὸ μὲν τοῦ νεὼ πρόσωπον (εἴη δ' ἂν αὐτοῦ τὰ πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον, ἵνα δὴ τῷ θεῷ ἱερουργοῦσι τὰ ἄρρητα) τρόπῳ τοιῷδε δεδημιούργη1.1.32 ται. οἰκοδομία τις ἐκ γῆς ἀνέχει, οὐκ ἐπ' εὐθείας πεποιημένη, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν πλαγίων ὑπεσταλμένη κατὰ βραχύ, καὶ κατὰ τὰ μέσα ὑποχωροῦσα, ἐπὶ σχῆμά τε κατὰ ἥμισυ τὸ στρογγύλον ἰοῦσα, ὅπερ οἱ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα σοφοὶ ἡμικύλινδρον ὀνομάζουσιν, ἐς ὕψος ἀπότομον ἐπανέστηκεν. 1.1.33 ἡ δὲ τοῦ ἔργου τούτου ὑπερβολὴ ἐς σφαίρας τεταρτημόριον ἀποκέκριται, ὕπερθέν τε μηνοειδές τι αὐτῇ ἕτερον τοῖς προσεχέσι τῆς οἰκοδομίας ἐπῆρται, τῇ μὲν εὐπρεπείᾳ θαυμάσιον, τῷ δὲ σφαλερῷ τῆς συνθέσεως δοκοῦντι εἶναι 1.1.34 φοβερὸν ὅλως. δοκεῖ γάρ πη οὐκ ἐν βεβαίῳ ἐπῃωρῆσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐπικινδύνως τοῖς ἐνθάδε οὖσι μετεωρίζεσθαι. καίτοι διαφερόντως ἐν τῷ βεβαίῳ τῆς ἀσφαλείας ἐστήρικται. 1.1.35 τούτων δὲ δὴ ἐφ' ἑκάτερα κίονες ἐπ' ἐδάφους εἰσίν, οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ κατ' εὐθὺ ἑστῶτες, ἀλλ' εἴσω κατὰ σχῆμα τὸ ἡμίκυκλον ὥσπερ ἐν χορῷ ἀλλήλοις ὑπεξιστάμενοι, καὶ αὐτῶν 1.1.36 ὑπεράνωθεν οἰκοδόμημα μηνοειδὲς ἀποκρέμαται. τοῦ δὲ δὴ ἑῴου κατ' ἀντικρὺ τὰς εἰσόδους ἔχων ἐγήγερται τοῖχος, καὶ αὐτοῦ ἑκατέρωθεν οἵ τε κίονες καὶ τὰ αὐτῶν ὕπερθεν ὁμοιότατα τοῖς δεδηλωμένοις ἐν ἡμικύκλῳ ἑστήκασι. 1.1.37 κατὰ δὲ τὰ τοῦ νεὼ μέσα λόφοι χειροποίητοι ἐπανεστήκασι τέσσαρες, οὓς καλοῦσι πεσσούς, δύο μὲν πρὸς βορρᾶν, δύο δὲ πρὸς ἄνεμον νότον, ἀντίοι τε καὶ ἴσοι ἀλλήλοις, κίονας ἐν μέσῳ ἑκάτεροι κατὰ τέσσαρας μάλιστα 1.1.38 ἔχοντες. πεποίηνται δὲ οἱ λόφοι λίθοις εὐμεγέθεσι σύνθετοι, λογάδην μὲν συνειλεγμένοις, ἐς ἀλλήλους δὲ πρὸς τῶν λιθολόγων ἐπισταμένως ἐναρμοσθεῖσιν, ἐς ὕψος μέγα. εἰκάσαις ἂν αὐτοὺς εἶναι σκοπέλους ὀρῶν ἀποτόμους. 1.1.39 ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ ἀψῖδες τέσσαρες ἐν τετραπλεύρῳ ἀνέχουσι· καὶ αὐτῶν τὰ μὲν ἄκρα ξύνδυο ξυνιόντα εἰς ἄλληλα ἐν τῇ ὑπερβολῇ ἠρήρεισται τῶν λόφων τούτων, τὰ δὲ δὴ 1.1.40 ἄλλα ἐπηρμένα εἰς ἀπέραντον ὕψος ᾐώρηται. τῶν δὲ ἀψίδων αἱ μὲν δύο κατὰ κενοῦ τοῦ ἀέρος ἐπανεστήκασι πρὸς ἀνίσχοντά τε καὶ δύοντά που τὸν ἥλιον, αἱ δὲ λειπόμεναι οἰκοδομίαν τέ τινα καὶ κίονας μικροὺς κομιδῇ 1.1.41 ἔνερθεν ἔχουσιν. ὕπερθεν δὲ αὐτῶν κυκλοτερὴς οἰκοδομία ἐν στρογγύλῳ ἐπῆρται· ὅθεν ἀεὶ διαγελᾷ πρῶτον ἡ 1.1.42 ἡμέρα. ὑπεραίρει γάρ, οἶμαι, τὴν γῆν ξύμπασαν, καὶ διαλείπει τὸ οἰκοδόμημα κατὰ βραχύ, ἐξεπίτηδες παρειμένον τοσοῦτον, ὅσον τοὺς χώρους, οὗ δὴ τὸ διῃρημένον τῆς οἰκοδομίας συμβαίνει εἶναι, φέγγους διαρκῶς ἀγωγοὺς 1.1.43 εἶναι. ταῦτα δέ, οἶμαι, οὐδὲ γλώσσῃ τραυλιζούσῃ τε καὶ ἰσχνοφώνῳ οὔσῃ ἀμήχανα ἔσται· τῶν δὲ ἀψίδων τῆς συμπλοκῆς ἐν τετραγώνῳ ἐξειργασμένης, ἐς τρίγωνα 1.1.44 τέσσαρα μεταξὺ τὸ ἔργον ἀποτετέλεσται. καὶ ἡ μὲν τριγώνου ἑκάστη κρηπὶς πεπιεσμένη τῇ ἐς ἀλλήλας τῶν ἀψίδων ἐνέρσει ὀξεῖαν ποιεῖται τὴν κάτω γωνίαν, συναναβαίνουσα δὲ τὸ λοιπὸν εὐρυνομένη τῇ μεταξὺ χώρᾳ ἐς τὸ κυκλοτερὲς τελευτᾷ, ὃ ταύτῃ ἀνέχει, γωνίας τε τὰς λει1.1.45 πομένας ἐνταῦθα ποιεῖται. τούτου δὲ τοῦ κυκλοτεροῦς παμμεγέθης ἐπανεστηκυῖά τις σφαιροειδὴς θόλος 1.1.46 ποιεῖται αὐτὸ διαφερόντως εὐπρόσωπον. δοκεῖ δὲ οὐκ ἐπὶ στερρᾶς τῆς οἰκοδομίας διὰ τὸ παρειμένον τῆς οἰκοδομίας ἑστάναι, ἀλλὰ τῇ σφαίρᾳ τῇ χρυσῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρα1.1.47 νοῦ ἐξημμένη καλύπτειν τὸν χῶρον. ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἐς ἄλληλά τε παρὰ δόξαν ἐν μεταρσίῳ ἐναρμοσθέντα, ἔκ τε ἀλλήλων ᾐωρημένα καὶ μόνοις ἐναπερειδόμενα τοῖς ἄγχιστα οὖσι, μίαν μὲν ἁρμονίαν ἐκπρεπεστάτην τοῦ ἔργου ποιοῦνται, οὐ παρέχονται δὲ τοῖς θεωμένοις αὐτῶν τινι ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν ἐπὶ πολὺ τὴν ὄψιν, ἀλλὰ μεθέλκει τὸν ὀφ1.1.48 θαλμὸν ἕκαστον, καὶ μεταβιβάζει ῥᾷστα ἐφ' ἑαυτό. ἀγχίστροφός τε ἡ τῆς θέας μεταβολὴ ἐς ἀεὶ γίγνεται, ἀπολέξασθαι τοῦ ἐσορῶντος