圣索菲亚教堂的内部装饰被称为世界上最奢华的。中殿每一侧都有两层长廊或画廊。画廊是由色彩斑斓的大理石柱支撑而成，有红的、绿的、橘黄的，还有灰色的和黑色的。这座教堂有这样一个令人称奇的事实，那就是它内部总共有一百零七根柱子，而圆顶的直径正好也是107英尺，横跨整个教堂。
墙壁底部贴满了漂亮的大理石瓷砖，颜色甚至比柱子还要丰富。稍微高一点的地方是嵌花式组合图案，由五彩玻璃和大理石在金子上镶嵌而成。
在圣索菲亚教堂建成大约一千多年后，君士坦丁堡被土耳其人占领。土耳其人是穆斯林，不信基督教。他们礼拜的场所不是教堂，而是清真寺。土耳其的首领骑着马冲进圣索菲亚大教堂，下令将教堂改为穆斯林的清真寺。除了几处天使的图案之外，所有美丽的镶嵌图都被石灰粉刷成白色。从那之后，任何人进圣索菲亚教堂都必须脱鞋。穆罕默德神圣的土地不容许任何一双鞋子的玷污。如不脱鞋，就不给进。
圣索菲亚教堂的外观看起来很大，但有的人认为这不够美观。注意一下图上的拱门两侧那支撑拱顶的扶壁。
那些塔有什么作用？真希望你能忘了它们的存在，因为塔在图上看起来太醒目，使人不再仔细地关注建筑物本身了。这些塔原不是教堂的组成部分，而是教堂变为清真寺后土耳其人加上去的。
我还是不希望把圣索菲亚教堂当成是唯一伟大的拜占庭风格的建筑，也并不是说拜占庭建筑就只在君士坦丁堡。其实，哪里有希腊的基督教会，哪里就有拜占庭风格的建筑。以俄罗斯的教堂为例，它们几乎都是拜占庭风格的，因为俄罗斯教会后来归属于希腊教会，而没有归属罗马教会。拜占庭风格的教堂如今在世界各地依然还在建造。
譬如建造在威尼斯的另一座拜占庭式教堂，晚于圣索菲亚教堂好几百年，却同样有名。威尼斯是一个港口共和国。这座城市不属于任何国家。它是独立的。舰队从威尼斯出发驶向东方，并从亚洲带回美丽的丝绸和香料。威尼斯开始变得强大而富有。她的人民开始学会欣赏这些从东方带回来的物品的绚丽色彩，并把这些色彩运用于拜占庭式教堂的装饰上，使拜占庭式教堂就像是闪耀在太阳下的宝石。他们称他们的教堂为圣马可教堂，因为它建造的地点被认为是圣马可的埋葬地。
圣马可教堂共有五座圆顶——中间是个大圆顶，四座小圆顶环绕其中。因为圆顶不够高，从外边根本就看不到，所以威尼斯人又在五座圆顶上加了一个大圆顶。所以每座圆顶就成了双层。教堂被覆盖在里面，外面是光鲜亮丽的镶嵌图案和从远近各地买来的名贵大理石。主门上的四匹青铜马和这座教堂一样有名。圣马可教堂可能是世界上色彩最丰富的建筑物了。
这里还有一张得分卡。上面记载了这一章出现的新名称。每个名称20分。你能正确地将他们拼写出来吗？看看得分是不是和上一章的一样高。试试吧，记住，要大声说出来哦。
拜占庭风格□
希腊十字形□
三角穹窿□
扶壁□
清真寺□
总分：
LIGHTS IN THE DARK
黑暗中的亮光
“WHAT goes up must come down.”The Roman Empire had reached the height of its power.The Romans had conquered，ruled，and civilized almost all of Europe.Then the mighty empire that the Romans had built up came tumbling down.
It began with the split between the eastern part of the empire and the western.When the capital was moved to Constantinople，naturally Rome，the old capital，lost power.Finally the East and West separated.Constantinople remained the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.Rome was capital of the Western Roman Empire.So then there were two Roman Empires and two emperors.But this didn’t last long.
Savage men from the North began pushing and fighting their way down across France to Italy.These men were fierce and rough.They had never learned to read or write.We call them Teutons.The Teutons finally overran France，Spain，and Italy.They took Rome itself，and that ended the old Roman Empire in the West.I wonder what the Teutons thought when they entered Rome and saw the great palaces and theaters，the temples and monuments.
The Teutons were rude and rough and ignorant.But they were strong and brave and good fighters.They became Christians.Gradually，they learned the languages of the parts of Europe where they settled.All parts of the Roman Empire had once upon a time spoken Latin，the language of Rome.Now under the Teuton tribes the language of each part of Europe became different.The Latin used in France gradually became French.The Latin used in Spain became Spanish，and the Latin used in Italy and in Rome itself became Italian.No longer could a man from Spain talk with a man from France in his own language.
But Spain and France and Italy did not become real nations right away.Everywhere there was fighting，everywhere mix-ups.One tribe fought with another.One town fought with another town.The old civilized life was upset.Everything became darker and darker for civilization.The ways of the Romans were forgotten.There would have been no time for architecture，on account of so much fighting，even if almost everybody had not forgotten what architecture was.The old basilican churches were still used，but few new ones were built.Things got so bad that we call the time from about 500A.D.to about 1000A.D.the Dark Ages.
Now，although everything certainly looked black for Europe，there were a few lights to be seen in the darkness.One bright spot was the reign of Charlemagne.Charlemagne was a Teuton.He grew up uneducated and he never learned to write.Can you imagine a ruler nowadays—the President of the United States，for instance—who couldn’t write a letter？But Charlemagne had a good mind and he wanted to learn all there was to know.He became King of France，but he wasn’t satisfied until he had brought Germany and Italy under his rule，too.
Charlemagne encouraged building.He brought to his court all the wisest men he could find.He helped get back for the world some of the knowledge and learning that had been lost when the old Romans ceased to govern.He was crowned emperor of a new Roman Empire in 800A.D.
Another light，flickering in the Dark Ages，was kept burning by the Christian monks.As you know，monks are men who live in monasteries.A monastery was ruled by a chief monk called an abbot.The monks thought they could live better lives if they worked hard and kept away from all the fighting and badness going on in the world.
Those old monks worked hard in the monasteries.They raised vegetables，built churches and houses，taught school，made paintings，wrote histories，helped the poor and sick people who came to them.Best of all for you and me，they studied the old Roman writings and kept them safe，so that we can know much more about the old Roman ways than we could if it hadn’t been for the learned monks.