£70 ARCHITECTURE, 
1806, the architect Amati received the command of the Emperor Napoleon 
to complete the facade and to cover the cathedral itself with white marble. 
It is not entirely completed even now. 
Pil. 40, fig. 2, shows the ground plan, and pl. 38, jig. 21, the interior of 
this magnificent church. The length of the interior between the walls is 
448 feet 6 inches, the wall of the choir is 6 feet, and with the piers 12 feet 
thick. The thickness of the front wall is 15 feet 8 inches, consequently the 
whole length is 476 feet 2 inches. The length of the transept is 283 feet, 
and the inner length of the nave 175 feet. Measured between the columns 
the main aisle is 52 feet 4 inches, and each of the side aisles 21 feet 7 
inches. Of the 52 round columns in the interior of the church, 48 are 
7 feet 6 inches through, and the middle ones 8 feet 7 inches. The height 
of the nave is 147 feet 9 inches, consequently 3 feet 9 inches greater than 
the height of St. Peter’s, and it is the highest aisle in any existing church. 
The height of the inner side aisles is 97 feet, and that of the outer ones 75 
feet 4inches. The ribs of the vaults are of marble and are 8-12 inches thick ; 
the caps are vaulted in brickwork and are 3-6 inches thick. The construc- 
tion of the dome over the middle of the church is very remarkable. It 
rests upon the four middle piers and the arches uniting them, and is raised 
201 feet 6 inches over the floor of the church. The lantern placed upon it 
is 84 feet high, and upon this rests the spire or the pyramid of 92 feet in 
height, upon which stands the statue of the Madonna, 12 feet high, so that 
the whole is 339 feet 6 inches high. This dome is 54 feet broad, 43 feet 
10 inches high, and forms an oval with eight principal ribbed arches, 
whose caps are walled in brick. The exterior is richly ornamented with 
pyramids and pillars, many of which support statues. The cathedral 
was to have had portals in the cross-arms, but little chapels were introduced 
instead. 
The western facade has five doors, of which the middle one is 15 feet 4 
inches broad and 30 feet 8 inches high. The doors and the windows over 
them are arranged by Pellegrini in the Italian taste. Besides these, 
there are three large windows in the old German style on this facade. 
Between the doors and upon the corners, there are richly ornamented 
buttresses, which are crowned by pyramidal pillars reaching 66 feet above 
the eaves of the roof. Of these there are several hundred upon the church. 
The number of statues is estimated by some as high as 4500, and 3000 is 
certainly not an exaggerated estimate. 
_ The effect of the interior is in the highest degree superb and won- 
derful, not only from the great size, but from the loftiness of the nave, the 
beautiful and naturally warm colors of the material, and the soft illumina- 
tion through the great painted windows. The 52 clustered columns of the 
interior were to have had their capitals crowned with statues, but the figures 
are completed upon a few only, as our view shows. 
The roof is striking ; for in place of the former tile roofing, white marble 
slabs 14 to two inches thick have been laid upon little flat vaults, avoiding 
the necessity of rafters, and in fact there is no wood used in the building. 
The plates of the roof are jointed with a very compact water-proof cement. 
170 
