The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1884-07-12
The Grand Mosque, Kalrwan.

The Grand Mosque, Kairwan.
Excepting the French officers, only "a
single traveller had entered there before
me; this was Mr.. A. M. Broadley, the
Times correspondent, whose article on
Kairwan had already made quite SEN
sation. The general plan of the Grand
Mosque takes the form of parallelo-
gram. The exterior, although i'm
posing, is meaningless enough, and re-
sembles by its massive solidity FORTH
cation rather than a mosque, save that
in the middle .of the northwest face a
remarkable minaret, an enormous
square tower built of dressed stone,
rises to great height, surmounted by
two tiers Of open-work tracery, which
stand out in blazing whiteness against
the blue of the sky. Two principal
doors on the sides merit examination;
they are almost the only feature of
interest on the exterior.
| If the outside had not satisfied me,
the interior offered me much more than
l had hoped. At first sight one feels
that the breath of Inspiration has
passed there; one recognizes the
hand OF those "masters of liy-
ing stones" as they said in the
Middle Ages, whose art, infused with a
deep and burning faith, wrought into
the materials they used the very glow
OF their souls.
Like the Mosque of Cordova and the
bas:licas, with which it has more than
one point of resemblance, the Dilemma
el-Kebir has much more breadth than
height. Unlike the Gothic churches,
which shoot toward Heaven, the dome
OF the Mihrab (sanctuary), so thick
that eight days were necessary to pierce
hole for the suspension rod, Is little
more than seventy feet high. A mystic
shadow fills the holy ediiice, which is
only lighted by large door, and by
some glass windows of marvellous
brightness, due, without doubt, to pro.
cesses now lost.
Columns of porphyry, of jasper, of
marble, aud of other precious materi-
ais. one hundred and ninety-four in
number, form veritable forest. These
columns, of Romanesque and Byzantine
origin, are of the most varied forms.
Smooth or fiuted, surmountcd by Greek,
Roman, Maltese, and still other capt.
tails, incongruous, contradictory, they
form, Notwithstanding, an ensemble
which enchants the beholder as much
as, and perhaps more, than a more reg
ular architecture could do. UNITY re-
suits from multiplicity; acanthus and
clover leaves. Homework, bright col
ors, and old dull tones all combining
gracefully. and forming magnificent
monumental bouquet. There is little
or no paraphernalia; the iconoclastic
genius of the Mussulman reyolts at
the theatrical mise en- scene which in
other worships impairs the sanctity of
the idea of God. No affairs, no statues.
no images, nothing of that which ma
terializes for men the sovereign Author
OF the world. Summer and winter.
mat on the pavement, raised seat,
and pulpit for the man who comes to
read and explain the Koran: lamps.
some old pieces of faience and poly
chrome ornaments in the sanctuary
these are all. No spectacle distracts
the thought, no liturgy imposes upon
it an obligatory formula; the senses are
impressed only by the majestic grand
eur of the monument, majesty sweet
and simple, which uplifts the soul.
The cloister or interior covers nearly
twice the area of the room for PRAYERS.
1t is surrounded by double colonnade,
except on the mina,es side, where are
the rooms for additions, and the stores
where are arranged the mating, lamps,
ETC., which ornament the edifice at the
grand fetes. The cloister and the
room for prayers form the mosque.
In going back from the end of the
court to the foot of the minaret, the
coup deu is nearly fairy-like. The
sanctuary is there before you with its
grand porch, its columned galleries, its
gracefully shooting arches, its aspect of |
temple and basilica. Strange ed;fice,
exquisite and barbarous-a heaping up |
of incongruous materials, veritable |
church Of pirates, made of pieces
robbed or conquered from many civil
izations.
In the strong light, parts of the cor
nice and melon-shaped white domes
cleaned and sparkIed. while the rest of |
the building was bathed in a blue and |
transparent shadow, which gave to it
mysterious aspect. Flocks of pigeons |
winged their way from the arches, and
came fluttering down Familiarity before
me. 1t was an Oriental dream turned |
into stone.-A. +. Jacassy, in Harper,
Magazine.