Omaha daily bee., 1919-03-05
Restoration Of ST. Sophia
Marquise dc Fontenay in Washington Post.

Marquise de Fontenay in Washington Post.
Lord Bryce has assumed the chairmanship
OF a very influential committee just formed in
England for the purpose OF bringing about the
restoration of the mosque of St. Sophia, at
Constantiuople, to Chrstendom; of course, to
that denomination of Christendom to which it
formerly belonged in the days of the Byzan-
tine empire, namely, the orthodox Greek rite.
The committee comprises several members
Of the present government as well as Lord
Salisbury, Lord Selborne, Lord Crewe, Lord
Beauchamp, Lord Halifax, etc, with Sir Sam
uel Hoare, M. p, as treasurer. It proposes to
inaugurate series of meetings both in the
United Kingdom and abroad, especially IN
America, with a view to spreading the move
ment and eudowing ii with irresistible force.
The accomplishment of its aims will be
matter of some difficulty, owing to the very
large Mohamnedan population subject to Brit
ish and French rule. England commands the
allegiance of about 130000,000 Moslems, and
France has some 35,000000. There is no doubt
that all these followers of the prophet would
view with resentment the substitution Of the
cross for the crescent on the dome OF St.
Sophia and the restoration to Christianity OF
former baslica which has been sacred to
Islam for the last five centuries or thereabout
Yet, if St. Sophia is to be preserved as one
of the most interesting memorials OF the
Byzantine art of the sixth century Of the Chris
tian era-it was built by Justinan the Great on
the foundations of an earlier basilica erected
in 404-it urgently requires an amount OF re-
pair, which cannot be with safety intrusted to
any Moslem engineers or architects while as
long as it remains a Mohammedan place of
worship it would be out of the question for
Christian architects to undertake the job. 1t is
a wonder that it should have lasted through
out of all these IA centuries, the eight superb
porphyry columns in the four bays at the cor
ners of the nave being thousands OF years old,
hai1inU from the TaraOfA Nf fha SIN
Baalbek An object of the greatest care until
the downfall of the Byzantine empire, the in
conceivable neglect of the Turks, who, unlike
their coregionists elsewhere, are always de-
sttuctive instead of constructive, has reduced
the basilca to a shocking condition of rack and
ruin, calling for immediate and extensive re-
pair if it is to be preserved from collapse.
The first thing that will have to be under
taken, when once Christian engineers and
Architects get this wonderful monument in
hand, will be the radical cleansing thereof.
The accumulation of dirt and flth-an accunlu-
lation of centuries-is simply indescribable and
surpasses all belief, the only attempt at clean
sing by the Turks, if cleansing it could be
called, having been an occasional withdrawing
of the glorious and priceless Byzantine mosaics
and the vandalistic dingy colored p1astering Of
the exquisite marbles of the walls and their
beautiful carvings.
When the work in question is undertaken,
the architects and engineers engaged therein
will have the opportunity for the first time
since Constantinopie fell into the hands of the
Turks, nearly half century before the dis
covery of America by Christopher Columbus,
to explore the vaults of the basilica and its
various secret recesses, above and below
ground where most of the sacred vessels, re-
lquares and treasures of the church were con-
cealed by its clergy during the siege of SIAM
boul
When the Turks seized ST. Sophia, they are
said to have gathered the idea that whatever
gold and Jewels there were would be found
in that portion of the edifce devoted to the
immense collection of manuscripts and books.
In order to get these out of the way during
the fruitless search for treasure they were
tumbled pell nell into the vaults where they
have remained, sealed up and untouched ever
since. The manuscripts alone are said to NUM-
Der nearly 100000
Many vain endeavors have been made by
German, French, English and Italian students
and psychologists during the last 90 years to
obtain permission to explore the crypt and the
vaults of ST. Sophia. But not even the sui
tans would dare to outrage the religious pre-
JUDGES of the Moslem clergy of the mosque
nor the fanaticism of the unruy softas-those
played a leading role in the massacres Of
Christians at Constantinople-by granting the
desired permits When once, however Islam
is ousted from St. Sophia and STEAMBOAT has
passed from the possession of the Turks, there
is no knowing what priceless treasures in the
way of jeweed Byzantine art and of docu-
mentary contributions to history and to
Christian lore may be brought to light, for
Constantinople was at the time of the Turkish
conquest the greatest repository of ancient and
medieval literature in the world.