8ARACKNK- A I!' '1 1 1 



SARACKN1C ARCHITECTURE. 



i' 



example her* annexed (from Heoemer) of a portion of a window iii 

 ,,iir of Hakim at Cairo, may lw of some assistant The pattern 

 . ami playful; au.l notwithstanding that, although regular, it 

 appears at first \. ' .ill lie found to be i 



auui|>o*ed of merely a iv|>c-tition of the mine forms, yet producing a 

 conoUnt variety, according u the lozenge or the star u fixed upon by ; 

 the rye at the centra from which the re*t of the pattern diverges. 



. 



i if perforated battlement* and parapets, this stylo furnishes some 



exceedingly rich and tasteful specimens. Several of tliviu arc exceed- , 



indy intricate and delicate also, and may therefore, .dim.*! without 



exaggeration, be compared to lace-work as seen against the sky. < >i 



this kind are the parapets of tho mosques Lashar and Akmer at Cairo, 



in some parts have perforated battlements of fanciful outline 



rising above the general parapet of open-work. Curves, forming 



pointed horse shoe archee, occur in some of the patterns ; further t Inn 



this it U impossible to pretend to describe them, except it be to remark 



th it the stone-work in very slender, and the open spaces large in pro- 



;i, and that the ribs or steins of which the former is composed 



.mething tho resemblance of being interwoven, one passing alter- 



: o and behind the next, after the fashion of wiekurwork. 



rsity of invention are shown in the dtn : 

 mosaics aud lavements, many of which appear exceedingly elaborate, 



although, when analysed, they arc found to be very simple in prin- 

 ter instance, some patterns exhibiting octagons, star*, ami 

 figures, are produced merely by series of zigzag lines intersecting each 

 other at right angle*, different combinations being obtain. 

 as the points of the zigzag an' turne.l from or towards i-:i.-h other. 

 Among the other ornaments which mark thU iv, tin- In.-.. 



. and btalacUtc-lil.'- drops, or pendent* of ceiling 

 deserve to be mentioned : of theso, the rich example in the Alhambra 

 . copy in full size of the stalactite roof of the Hall of the 

 Abcncerrages, but coloured and gilt in accordance with wlnt Mr. Jones 

 to have been the appearance of the hall in its original state, 

 will at once recur to the memory. Another characteristic form of 

 ornament is that of the :<mai star-shaped apertures cut in a M 



i through tin' .lomes or vault* over baths, Ac., for the purpose 

 of admitting only a subdued degree of light. 



The above ore characteristic elements of the style generally. But 

 there are others equally characteristic of the Asiatic varieties, though 

 not found in the Spanish. Of these, a constructive feature, as striking 

 as the arch iteelf, is that of the dame. For the most part domes occur 

 in mosques and other religious edifices, but they are also usual in tombs- 

 Domes were derived directly from Byzantine examples, anil 

 for,- | leiidcntive in character ; but following the Orimtal tendency to 

 inflation and luxuriance, they were variously altered in size, appli- 

 cation, and ornamentation, and ultimately in Persia, Turkey, an 

 more extravagantly in India [INDIA, Aiu-in , col. 848] 



assumed a bulbous form, thus losing sight of the mathematical prin- 

 ciples which render the dome so constructively pimple an architectural 

 feature. [DoiiK ] . instead of being employed singly, domes 



were sometimes used in great profusion, there being, besides the prin- 

 cipal dome, a number of subordinate ones, sometimes according and at 

 others contrasting with it in shape. Miuarclt are another characteristic 

 feature in the Asiatic varieties of Saracenic architecture ; but for an 

 : account of them it will be enough to refer to the article M i 

 i The long and slender forms of minarets being opposed to the swelling 

 curves, of domes, contributed not a little to that picturesquenees of 

 I outline which is so striking in buildings of later Saracenic style. 

 The cut of the At-Mcidau at Constantinople, given under MOSQUK, will 

 serve as an illustration of the mult of domes and the appli- 



cation of the minaret, whilst tho article iUelf will furnish some general 

 information on the subject of rno.v | 



\Vc may now briefly notice a few of the more characteristic existing 



. 



Mosque (Cathedral) at Cordova. 



example* of the style; beginning v.ith th . of Spain. t>! these the 

 oUat is the mosque at Cordova, which now serves lr.il of 



that city. It WM the earliest structure of any importim ere- 1 I l>y 

 the Moon in Spain, baring been c untncneed by the. Caliph 

 Ratnhan, in 788 A.D., with the avowed intention that I urjKwvi 



in splendour the mosques of BighiUd, Damascus, ni>' 1 .In uvilem. It 

 was completed in 706. Like all early Saracenic work it in characterised 

 by a certain severity and massivenesi 'of style. Byzantine architects 



are said to hav been specially invited jnto Spain to superintend its con- 

 struction. In its plan the original building bore a general reset: >' 

 to a basilica, but it was greatly altered about the close of the luth 



century by KI Mansour, 1 mi verted it into a parallelogram by 



axUing eight aisles to the <le. As it now stands it is an insu- 



lated oblong building, extending C2< > iorth to south, including 



a spacious court at its north end or side. The interior presents almost 

 a forest of jasper and other marble columns, upwards of 600 in in 



