212 



THE CIVIL ENCaXKEH AND ARCHITECTS JOURXAL. 



[August, 



the completion was announced, and tlie p^niperor was sliown over 

 the hiiildiiiff. The whole cost, from the foundation upwards, 

 settinfT aside damaffe from the fire, wag 70,001)/. (105,000 silver 

 roubles) and the excess over the estimate was 4500/. (.30,600 

 silver roubles), caused by heavier wage* to labourers, and rise in the 

 price of materials. 



In the middle of the building is a doorway and passage, which is 

 likewise bonjh-proof, and which reaches through two stories, as well 

 as the ground-floor. In this gangway is a moveable granary, the 

 invention of iM. Valery of Paris, by which a thousand bush'els of 

 wheat are cleaned at once. From this doorway, as well as from both 

 others on the Xarew side, iron stairs reach to the river, for lading 

 and unlading from the boats. In thewindows and on the floors strong 

 cranes are placed. On the Vistula side is onlv one doorway in the 

 middle of tlie building, as tliis fa -ade constitiitps a battery 'to com- 

 mand the Vistula. The length of the building is about 600 

 feet (600 l'(dish feet), and the breadth about 100 feet. The 

 lieight in the wings on the Xarew side, witli tlie basement wall, 

 is 90 feet, and on the Vistula side 23 feet lower. After the 

 fire the roof was covered with iron sheeting. The windows in 

 the three stories, and in the lower floor, are made without 

 parapets, and so that fresh air for tlio ventilation of the corn can 

 be readily admitted. The upper windows, it should be observed, 

 are each divided by a floor, so as to make five stories besides 

 the casemates. The cornice on which the fourth and fifth stories 

 rests, and which is in the Castellated style, projects with the upper 

 wall about one foot and a half. It 'is decorated with masks of 

 various designs, in sandstone, which serve the purpose of ventila- 

 tors for the lower part of the fourth story. The whole of the 

 floor of the first story is laid with asphalte, the use of which in 

 Poland was introduced by Stanislas ^V^ysocki, engineer of the 

 Vienna and M'arsaw Railway. All the castings were supplied 

 from the works of the Polish Bank in Warsaw. 



Tiie building has not the usual appearance of a granary, but 

 being partly of a military character, a peculiar style was ad'o])ted, 

 which is not inapjjropriate, and in which Mr. Gay has chiefly fol- 

 lowed the example of the castellated mansions of Florence. It 

 thus acquires a bold and monumental character, worthy of its mas- 

 sive construction, and may justly be ranked among the finest 

 buildings in Russia, of whicli so many distinguish the present 

 government, and as being without a parallel in Europe. 



The seat of the magazine is one of the strongest points of the 

 system of fortification, and it rises above the two rivers and the 

 waters of the inundation, with its images glittering in the streams 

 on a fine day with a most picturesque effect. On the opposite 

 shore of the Xarew is the citadel, and some long lines of barracks, 

 on rising ground about 80 feet high; and the two banks are united 

 by a temporary wooden bridge, which is hereafter to be replaced 

 by a suspension bridge. The width of the Vistula is about 1700 

 feet (and which can likewise be bridged), and that of the X'arew 

 fiOO feet. The town and fortress communicate, by paved roads on 

 each side of the Vistula, with M^arsaw; and wheii the water per- 

 mits, two steamboats run. 



For this information, and for the engravings, we arc indebted to 

 the BdUzeHiing; and we only regret that we are not in possession 

 of more practical details. 



LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE; 



By Samuel Clegg, Jun., iu.i.c.e., f.g.s. 

 Delivered at the College for General Practical Science, Putney, Surrey. 



(president, bis grace the nUKE OF IIUCCLEUCH, K.G.) 



Lecture YlU.—T/ie Parthcrton—Erechtheion— Theatres, SjC. 

 Domestic Architecture of the Greeks. 

 The Parthenon was commenced about 4+8 B.C., on the site of the 

 old temple called the Hecatomiiedon, which was destroyed 32 years 

 before by the Persians under Mardonius. It was situated on the 

 highest ground in the Acropolis, where it stood a masterpiece of 

 art. Dr. Clarke says: "To a person who has seen the ruins of 

 Rome, the first suggestion made by a sight of the buildings in the 

 Acropolis is that of the infinite superiority of the Athenian archi- 

 tecture: it possesses the greatness and liiajestv of the Egyptian 

 or of the ancient Etruscan style, with all the elegant projiortions, 

 the rich ornaments, and the discriminating taste of the most 

 splendid era of the arts." "In all that relates to harmony, ele- 

 gance, execution, beauty, and proportion," he continues, "the Par- 



thenon stands a chef d'wuvre; every portion of the sculpture by 

 which it is so highly decorated has all tlie delicacy of a cameo." 

 This tem])le of the Doric order, octastyle and peripter:il, may be 

 considered as a perfect example of the principles of (ireek archi- 

 tecture, the harmony of proportion and the severe uniformity of 

 its masses blending and contrasting with the endless diversity of 

 line and curve formed by the sculpture with which it is adorned. 

 The charge of its erection was committed to the architects, 

 Ictinus and Callicrates, under the general superintendence of 

 Phidias. The beasts of burden employed in carrying up the 

 materials were thenceforward exempted from any less sacred 

 work; and one that had voluntarily headed the train was kept at 

 pasture during the rest of its life at the public expense. The 

 whole of this magnificent edifice was constructed of Pentelic 

 marble; no cement was used, but the margins of the blocks were 

 ))olished, so as to fit with greater exactitude — a style of masonry 

 that, from its beauty, was called by the Greeks "harmonia." The 

 blocks composing the columns (including the capitals) were twelve 

 in number. They were united by a cylindrical wooden pin, in- 

 serted into a plug about 5 inches square and 3 inches deep, let 

 into a corresponding mortice in the blocks. The dimensions are 

 227 feet by 101 on the upper step. It consisted, besides the 

 Pronaos and Posticus, of two apartments, the Cella and the Opis- 

 thodomos. The former or eastern chamber is 62i5 feet in breadth, 

 and 98 ft. 6 in. in length; the western chamber is 44 feet in length. 

 The total height of the temple, from the stylobate to the summit 

 of the pediment, is 65 feet. The exterior columns (eight in each 

 portico, and seventeen along the flanks, includingthose at theangles) 

 are 6 ft. 2 in. lower diameter, and 35 feet in height. The ambulatory 

 is 9 feet in width. Vitruvius advises that, in order to correct the 

 delusion caused to the eye by the apparent deviation of a long 

 horizontal line, the stylobate should be slightly raised towards the 

 centi'e, and that the architrave should descend with a correspond- 

 ing curve. He also directs that the axes of the columns at the 

 angles and along the flanks should he inclined, the faces next the 

 walls of the cella being perpendicular to the stylobate; so that 

 the whole diminution of the shaft should be given to the exterior. 

 Both these rules have been observed in the erection of the Par- 

 thenon, a fact discovered by JMr. Pennethorne. The upper step in 

 the eastern front forms a curve, rising 3 inches in the centre; the 

 architrave also curves, the curve being increased in the cornice. 

 The columns of the peristyle incline inwards Ig inch from the 

 perpendicular. The ceiling of the Opisthodomos was supported 

 by four columns of about 4 feet diameter. This apartment was 

 the treasury of Attica and her allies. The Prytanes kept the key 

 of the Opisthodomos, as well as that of the Acropolis; one of these 

 o.licers was chosen by lot, and was entrusted with the keys for one 

 single day and night, during which time he was called the Epis- 

 tates, or president; when his term of duty had expired, the charge 

 passed to another of the same body. The treasures belonging to 

 the temple, consisting for the most part of votive offerings, were 

 of great value. Pausanias mentions the dedication of golden 

 shields; and Alexander the (ireat, after the battle of the Granicus, 

 sent 300 suits of Persian armour as offerings to Minerva in the 

 Parthenon. In the interior of the Cella were sixteen columns, of 

 3ft. Gin. diameter; the order employed is uncertain, the only 

 vestige that has been found amongst the ruins being one mutilated 

 Corinthian capital. 'Sir. Lucas, by a careful measurement of the 

 marks left by the bases, and a comparison of the information 

 attainable on the subject, has concluded that the lower range of 

 interior columns must have been Ionic, and the upper Corinthian; 

 and has thus restored it in his model in the British .Museum. The 

 interior apartments and the vestibules are raised two steps from 

 the stylobate; six columns in antis of 5^ feet diameter led into 

 the vestibule at either end of the building. The central part of 

 the Cella, as in all the temples to the superior divinities, was 

 hypa?thral. Here stood the great statue of Minerva, wrought in 

 gold and ivory by the hand of Phidias; it was 39 feet in height, 

 exclusive of the pedestal, and carried a golden spear 40 feet in 

 length, ^^'hen Phidias returned from Elis, the enemies of his 

 patron Pericles, accused him of peculation in regard to the gold 

 employed on the statue. Fortunately, by the advice of Pericles, 

 Phidias had formed the gold plates so that they could be taken oft' 

 and weighed; and by tliis means the foul calumny was refuted; 

 but his accusers, determined not to be again foiled, brought a 

 charge against him of impiety, alleging that he had introduced 

 portraits of Pericles and himself on the shield of the goddess. He 

 was upon this thi'own into prison, where he died, as some assert, by 

 poison, just as the last great work of Pericles, the Propylea, was 

 completed (432 B.C.) As Jlr. Lucas observes, "The embellishments 



