The Lighthouse of Alexandria is the most interesting blog post. Lighthouse of Alexandria: Purpose

Beneath this protruding decoration, the pendant stones create a narrow fringe-like path on which a street child can walk fearlessly and kindle the sacred fires. Rising above it into the immeasurable air, the helmet, rounded on all sides like a ball and shining like heaven, ignites the roof of the church. At its very summit, a cross is depicted in art, the protector of the city.

Now, east and west, you won't see anything under the arches: it's all air. But a mighty wall rises to the chin of the rounded arch towards the murmuring south wind and the empty north, and it is illuminated twice by four windows. This wall rests below on stone supports, because under it are six Gemon columns, 15a, like the fresh green color of an emerald, hold the indefatigable eerie joint. They, in turn, rise on massive heads in four columns, motionless on the ground, sparkling jewels of Thessalian marble adorned with golden hair16.

They separate the middle mansion of the glorious church from the long passage located nearby. There have never been pillars so tall, blooming like a grove of bright flowers carved from the land of Molossi. Their good feet do not plant everything in the ground: instead, they are set on the sidewalk in opposite pairs, and on their heads a vault, coiled around quadrangular arches, supports the lower part of the women's habitat. towards the north wind is the door that leads people to pure springs that cleanse human life and drive away the heavy scars of sin17.

After these four graceful Thessalian columns, on both sides, namely at dusk and dawn, the pierced cylindrical vaults rest on divinely constructed walls along the length of the passage and serve as a passage. To the north wind they open into double doors, while to the south, the doors include well-done spaces such as chambers. 18 And again, by day and night, there are two other columns from Gemus and two columns with high crests from the famous Proconneus, located next to the doors. There is only one door to the east, and people enter the abode of the black night through a double portal. 19.

In the south, you'll find a long passage similar to the north one, but it has something extra: it has a walled space reserved for the Austrian emperor at ceremonial festivals. And whoever gets up will find that the women's passages on both sides are similar to those below, but the one that passes over the narthex, to the west, is not like the other two.

Now, on the western side of this divine church, you will see the court, encompassed by four aisles: 21 one of them is connected to the narthek, while the others are open wide, and different paths lead to them. On the carved stone wall23 curious designs glitter everywhere. They were produced by the quarries of the naval outpost. The joining of cut marbles is reminiscent of the art of painting, because you can see the veins of square and octagonal stones to form devices: in this way, the stones imitate the glory of painting.

And outside of the divine church, you can see everywhere, along its flanks and borders, many open courtyards. They have been sculpted with ingenious art about a holy building that can appear to be shrouded in the bright light of day. But who, even in the thunderous suffering of Homer, will sing the marble meadows gathered on mighty walls and spreading the sidewalk sublime church? You can see the bright green stone of Laconia and the sparkling marble with undulating veins found in the deep ravines of the Jasian peaks, showing slanting streaks of blood red and light white; pale yellow with a steep red from the Lidyanskiy cape; the sparkling crocus-like gold stone that the Libyan sun, warming him with its golden light, produced on the steep slopes of the Moorish hills; the gleam of black on which the Celtic rocks, deep in the ice, poured here and there an abundance of milk; pale onyx with a luster of precious metal; and what the land of Atrax26 gives, not from some kind of mountain range, but from a flat plain: in parts bright greens, not like emeralds, in others - darker greens, almost blue.

It has snow-like spots next to flashes of black, so different beauties are mingled in the same stone. Before arriving at the brilliance of the carved mosaic, the mason, weaving thin slabs of marble with his hands, depicted on the walls, connected by arcs, loaded with fruits, baskets and leaves, and represented birds perched on the branches. with shoots like golden curls wraps around its winding path and spits out a spiral chain of clusters. He gently moves forward to darken the stone next to him with his twisting wreaths. 28 Such an ornament surrounds beautiful church.

And above the high-rounded columns, under the ledge of the stone edge, a tapestry of wavy acanthus unfolds, a wandering context of thorny dots, all golden, full of grace. 29 It embraces marble shields - discs of porphyry, sparkling with beauty that enchants the heart.

The roof is sealed with gilded tesserae, of which a sparkling stream of golden rays abounds and strikes the eyes of people with irresistible force. It was as if one were looking at the midday sun in the spring when he gilded every mountain peak. Indeed, our emperor, who collected all the wealth from all over the earth, from the barbarians and Ausonians, 32 did not consider stone decoration sufficient for this divine, immortal temple, in which Rome placed all its proud hopes on joy. He also did not spare the rich enrichment of silver.

Pangea Ridge33 and Cape Sunium34 have opened all their silver veins, and many of our Lords' treasuries have given their shops. Insofar as most of great church at the eastern arch, which was allocated for a bloodless sacrifice, it is limited not by ivory, but by stone or bronze, but all this is fenced off under a cover of silver. Not only on the walls separating the priest from the choir of singers, he installed plates of bare silver, but the columns are also six sets of two, it is completely covered with silver metal, and they send their rays far and wide.

On them, an instrument wielding a skillful hand skillfully pushed out discs sharper than a circle, 35 within which he engraved the figure of an impeccable God, who without seed dressed in human form. Elsewhere, he carved out many winged angels who bowed their necks because they cannot look at the glory of God, although they are hidden under the veil of human form. He is still God, even though He has put on flesh that takes away sin. Elsewhere, sharp steel created these former heralds of God37, in whose words, before God took on the flesh, the divine message that Christ had spread abroad.

And the artist did not forget the images of those who abandoned the average labor of their lives a fishing basket and a net, and these evil worries, in order to follow the command of the heavenly King, I fish even for people and, instead of throwing fish, spread nets eternal life... 38 And somewhere else, the Mother of God is depicted, a vessel of eternal life, whose holy womb nourished its Creator. And in the middle panels of the sacred screen, which form a barrier around the consecrated priests, the carver's tool carved one symbol, which means many words, as it combines the names of the empress and the emperor: it is like a shield with a boss, in the middle of which the sign of the cross has been carved. 39 And the screen gives access to the priests through three doors.

For each side, a worker's hand made a small door. 40. And above every pure table of gold41 an indescribable tower rises into the full air, grown on four-fold silver arches. It is transferred to silver columns, on the tops of which each of the four arches planted its own silver legs. And above the arches a figure appears, similar to a cone, but this is not quite a cone: since at the bottom its rim does not spin in a circle, but has an octahedral base, and from a wide plan it gradually creeps to a sharp point, stretching, as this makes eight sides of silver ...

At the junction of each other there are long highways that seem to join their course with triangular faces in eight-sided shape and rise up one ridge where the artist placed the cup shape. The lips of the cup tilt and take the shape of leaves, and in the middle is a shiny silver ball, and the cross overcomes it all. Above the arches, many curves of acanthus revolve around the bottom of the cone, and at the top, rising above the edge, it ends in vertical points resembling the fragrant fruits of a light leafy peach, sparkling with light. 42 Now that the sides of the base are set on top of each other by fixed silver bowls, and in each bowl is a candelabrum, like a candle that does not burn, and expresses beauty, and does not give light; because they are sculpted around silver, brightly polished.

Thus, the candle blinks with a silver beam and not with the fire of fire. And on golden pillars rises the all-gold slab of the sacred table, standing on gold bases and bright with glitter precious stones... Along the aisles, also next to the columns on both sides, they placed alternately single lamps, one separately from the other, and they run along the entire length of the stretching church. Under each of these is a silver vessel that looks like a balancing pan, and in the center of this is a bowl of burning oil. However, there is no equal level for all lamps, but you will see some high, some low, in lovely light curves as they glitter step-by-step in their airway, suspended from twisted circuits.