Show GLORY OF TURKISH CAPITAL CAPITAL If ret Mosque of Santa Sofia a Marvel MarvelIn In Jn Beauty of Architecture and andI andRich I Rich Decoration I The great mosque of ot Santo Sante Sofia towers majestically over oyer Constantinople Constantino Constantine pIe dominating Its surroundings by sheer thick-set thick ponderousness Its i bulky dome and tacked-on tacked minarets are ere however only the shell which covers a vast cathedral Justly famed for beauty of line and rich ornament From the outer court you pass through a heavy bronze door and stand within a hall ball of such cavernous proportions proportions that it seems Impossible that even the exterior that seemed so massive mas- mas sive could contain it Above the dome rises In a sweeping curve Once mosaic 1 figures gures of Christian saints adorned these higher regions of the hall hail but the vandal Turks long ago covered tho the with plaster through which in Ia certain places they still can be seen smiling dimly but serenely The mosque has not always been n a Mohammedan temple The Santa Sofia a Christian cathedra erected by by Constantine Constantino was destroyed I by fire It was Justinian who rebuilt I itIn it itIn In the sixth century decorating it with such lavish magnificence that ho lie was as himself surprised at the result and cried out Solomon I 1 ha have e surpassed In Ini Justinian's day the new temple a veritable Aladdin's cave Ita Its walls wails and columns were of ot marble marble- brought from foreign quarries an and from other temples Famous shrines o a aDiana or Diana Apollo and even the Temple o othe the Sun at contributed their statues es and Jewels willingly or not t to the glory of Justinian's cathedral Into thIs his treasure vault in 1463 burst burs burst the conquering Turks wrecking j dering and claiming possession Fro From Fron that time on Santa Sofia Church of th Divine Wisdom has been a Turkish mo mosque que with minarets added and th the crescent over all Chicago Chicago DaU Dally Daily iN lews |