iii. p. 418, fig. 16). The high altar stood in front of the steps, and the celebrant stood with his back to the apse, looking over the altar towards the congregation. An exactly similar arrangement still exists in many of the early Coptic churches of Old Cairo: the church of Abu Sergeh is a specially perfect example.[1] When the church was reconstructed in 1008, Bishop Orseolo did not interfere with the older and then obsolete arrangements of the choir, but added a later choir, formed by marble screens, projecting three bays into the nave, with seats along three sides of the enclosure,—an arrangement like that which still exists in the church of S. Clemente in Rome (see Rome, vol. xx. p. 833). The present choir-stalls date from the 15th century. A fine marble ambo was at the same time placed outside the cancelli, and the position of the celebrant at the high altar was reversed. The vaults of the three apses are covered with fine glass mosaics, added probably in the 12th century: in the centre is a large figure of the Virgin, with the twelve apostles below; other mosaics cover the vaults of the aisle-apses and the whole entrance wall. The latter, much restored, has scenes of the Crucifixion, the Doom, and Heaven and Hell. The sculpture of the nave capitals and on the marble cancelli is very graceful work of Byzantine style, closely resembling similar panels at Ravenna. One remarkable peculiarity of this church is the marble shutter which closes each window on the right wall; these have pivots which revolve in projecting corbels—a very early method of closing windows of which very few examples still exist. Even when the shutters were closed some dim light passed through the semi-translucent marble slabs.[2] An octagonal baptistery, also built by Bishop Orseolo, stood outside the main entrance to the church, but has been rebuilt on a smaller scale. The crypt under the central apse of the cathedral is probably part of the original church, unaltered by any later changes.[3] The small church of S. Fosca, which is connected with the cathedral by a loggia, is also a building of exceptional interest, dating from the 10th century. It is purely Oriental in plan, and much resembles that of St Mark's at Venice and S. Vitale at Ravenna, on a small scale. It has a cruciform nave, with a large dome supported on eight columns, and a projecting choir with three apses. Externally it is surrounded by a loggia, supported on marble columns with rich Byzantine capitals. S. Fosca was partially rebuilt in the 12th century, and has since been much modernized, but its original very interesting plan still remains but little changed.
TORGAU, a fortified town in the Prussian province of Saxony, is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, 30 miles north-east of Leipsic and 26 miles south-east of Witten berg. Its most conspicuous building is the Schloss Hartenfels, on an island in the Elbe, begun in 1481 and completed in 1544 by the elector John Frederick the Magnanimous. This castle is one of the largest Renaissance buildings in Germany, and contains a chapel consecrated by Luther in 1544. The town-house is a quaint building of the middle of the 16th century, and there are several other large and fine buildings, chiefly modern. The parish church contains the tomb of Catherine von Bora, Luther's wife. The once nourishing weaving and brewing industries of Torgau have declined in modern times; but the town has manufactures of gloves and miscellaneous articles, and carries on trade in grain, &c., on the Elbe and by rail. The fortifications, begun in 1807 at Napoleon's command, are largely surrounded with water; they include a tete-de-pont at the end of the bridge across the Elbe. In 1885 the population was 10,988 [in 1783 4000), a large proportion of them soldiers.
Torgau is said to have existed as the capital of a distinct principality in the time of the emperor Henry I., but by 1305 it was in the possession of the margrave of Meissen. It was a frequent residence of the electors of Saxony. In Reformation times Torgau appears as the spot where John of Saxony and Philip of Hesse formed their league against the Roman Catholic imperial estates; and the Torgau Articles, drawn up here by Luther in 1530, were the basis of the Augsburg Confession. The Thirty Years War inflicted great suffering on the town. In 1760 Frederick the Great defeated the Austrians in the neighbourhood of Torgau. The town capitulated to Tauentzien on January 10, 1814, after a siege of three months.
TORONTO, the capital of the province of Ontario and the second largest city in the Dominion of Canada, is situated on a large and finely sheltered bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, between the rivers Don and Humber. The magnetical and meteorological observatory, in the university grounds, stands at a height of 108 feet above the lake, and approximately 342 feet above the level of the sea, in lat. 43° 39′ 35″ N., long. 79° 23′ 39″ W. Toronto is 39 miles north-east of Hamilton, at the head of Lake Ontario, and 310 miles west-south-west of Montreal. The bay is formed by a peninsula or island about 6 miles long, enclosing a fine basin of 3·44 square miles, with a narrow entrance at the west end. This forms a safe and commodious harbour. The city stands on a thick deposit of boulder clay, overlying shaly sandstones of the Cincinnati or Hudson River group, practically equivalent in position to the Caradoc horizon of British geology.
Plan of Toronto.
1. Front Street 2. King Street (West). 3. King Street. 4. King Street (East). 5. Richmond Street. 6. Queen Street (West). 7. Queen Street. 8. Queen Street (East). 9. York Street. 10. Bay Street. 11. Tonge Street 12. Parliament Buildings. 13. Government House. 14. Upper Canada College. 15. Oscoode Hall. 16. St Michael's Cathedral. 17. Metropolitan Church. 18. Free Library. 19. St James's Cathedral. 20. River Don. 21. Knox College. 22. University College. 23. Magnetic Observatory. 24. Queen's Park. 25. St James's Park.
These thin-bedded sandstones crop out on the lake shore, and have been quarried for flagging and building purposes at the mouth of the Humber. In the northern part of the city the boulder clay is overlaid by stratified clays of the Post-Glacial age, largely used in the manufacture of bricks, of which many of the houses are built. The site slopes gradually from the margin of the bay for a distance of 3 miles to a terrace or ancient lake margin immediately outside the northern limits of the city, which occupies an area of 12·83 square miles, or of 17·99 square miles including the harbour and island. The streets cross each other at right angles. Yonge Street, the main thorough-
- ↑ See Middleton in Archæologia, vol. xlviii. p. 398.
- ↑ Similar marble slabs, not made to move, still exist in the apse windows of S. Miniato, near Florence, and once existed in the basilica of S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Rome.
- ↑ The cathedral of Parenzo, in Istria, a work of the 6th century, much resembles the cathedral of Torcello (see vol. iii. p. 418, fig. 17). Similar plans are also to be seen in many of the early churches of Syria (see De Vogüé, Syrie Centrale, Paris, 1865) as well as in the Coptic churches of Egypt.
