History Hunters home Crystal Palace home Millennium Dome team Sydenham team Fire team Crystal Palace history Prince Albert Albert Memorial Joseph Paxton the Crystal Palace in 1861 the fire of 1866 [Crystal Palace in 1900] the fire of 1936 sport and entertainment maps evidence and finds timeline glossary Crystal Palace resources	the Crystal Palace in 1900 The Nave c.1900 The following extract is taken from General Guide to Crystal Palace, abridged and edited by Henry Gillman, published by The Crystal Palace Company in c. 1900. The Central Transept The visitor on entering the Palace should make his way at once to the Central Transept, the arched roof of which rises 175 feet [53.34m] in height from the floor. The western end of this Transept is occupied by the great Orchestra, capable of accommodating more than 4,000 performers, which was erected for the Great Triennial Handel Festivals, but which is frequently used for other musical festivals and celebrations. In the centre of the Orchestra is the Grand Organ, built in 1857 by Messrs. Gray and Davison. It contains 4,568 speaking pipes. At the eastern end of the Transept are the apartments used by Members of the Royal Family when they visit the Crystal Palace. On the south side of the Transept, in the angle formed by the Nave and Transept, is the Concert Room, capable of seating over 3,000 persons. To the north, in a corresponding position, is the Theatre, in which nearly 2,000 spectators can be comfortably seated. The Fine Art Courts Turning towards the north ... the visitor will commence his inspection of the Fine Art Courts. These are the most important and comprehensive series of Art-illustrations of their kind in the world, and are designed to convey a practical lesson not otherwise attainable by the masses. Specimens of the various phases through which the arts of Architecture, Sculpture, and Mural Decoration have passed are here presented in chronological sequence of styles, commencing from the earliest known period down to modern times -- from the remote ages of Egyptian civilisation to the sixteenth century after Christ -- a period of more than three thousand years. Thus may be gained, in practical fashion, an idea of the successive dates of civilisation which have from time to time arisen in the world, have changed or sunk into decadence, have been violently overthrown, or have passed away, by the aggression of barbarians or by the no less degrading agency of sensual and enervating luxury. Sculpture is the sister art of Architecture. Vainly in any part of the world will be sought a collection so universal in its features as that at the Crystal Palace, by means of which the progress of this beautiful art can be regularly traced. The Courts are placed with their longer dimensions north and south; the small spaces intervening between the Courts are called Vestibules, and the long continuous gallery which runs at the back is called the Corridor. The Ancient Courts, on the left-hand side, from Egypt to the Alhambra, were arranged by Mr Owen Jones, and executed under his personal superintendence. The Modern, or Christian Courts, on the opposite side of the Nave, were constructed, in like manner, by Mr (afterwards Sir) Matthew Digby Wyatt. The Egyptian Court c.1900 The Egyptian Court ... Advancing from the North Nave up the short avenue of lions, cast from a pair brought from Egypt by Lord Prudhoe (afterwards Duke of Northumberland), we have before us the outer walls and columns of a temple, not taken from any one particular structure, but composed from various sources to illustrate Egyptian columns and capitals during the Ptolemaic period, somewhere about 300 years BC. On the walls are coloured sunk-reliefs showing a king making offerings or receiving gifts from the gods ... On the frieze above the columns is a hieroglyphic inscription, stating that 'In the seventeenth year of the reign of Victoria, the ruler of the waves, this Palace was erected and furnished with a thousand statues, a thousand plants, like as a book for the use of the men of all countries.' ... After examining the representation on the walls of battle scenes, and the eight gigantic figures of Rameses the Great, which form the façade of another temple, we enter the colonnade of an early period, about 1300 BC, and passing on we find ourselves in front of a tomb, copied from one at Beni Hassan, its date being about 1600 BC. Close by is the fine statue of the Egyptian Antinous, and amidst other scattered statues will be found two circular-headed stones -- copies of the celebrated Rosetta stone, from which Dr Young and M Champollion obtained a key to the deciphering of hieroglyphics ... The Greek Court This Court is a specimen of Greek architecture in the later period of the first or Doric order, and is taken, in part, from the Temple of Jupiter at Nemea ... The colouring with its blue, red, and yellow surfaces, blazoned with gold, produces an excellent effect ... We enter the Court through the central opening. This portion represents part of a Greek agora, or forum, which was used as a market, and also for public festivals, or political and other assemblies ... Through the opening in the back (west side) of the area, is seen a large model of the front of the noblest specimen of architecture, perhaps the finest building ever erected. This is the Parthenon, or Temple of Athene, the goddess from whom the City of Athens takes its name. The model was constructed with the most rigid accuracy by Mr Penrose, then the greatest living authority on the subject of this building ... The Roman Court Entering the Roman Court through the central archway, we come into an apartment the walls of which are coloured in imitation of the porphyry, malachite, and rare marbles with which the Roman people loved to adorn their houses ... In this Court are some very fine statues which have been recently removed from the Italian Court ... In the Roman Court and its precincts will also be found highly finished models of the Pantheon and of the Coliseum restored, which it is interesting to compare with the present state of the ruin as seen in the model of the Roman Forum. Close by are several masterpieces of art under Roman rule, such as the celebrated Belvedere Apollo, the Diana, from the Louvre, and others of equal interest and beauty. The Alhambra Court This Court is a reproduction of a portion of the vast fortress-palace of the Alhambra, which was built about the middle of the thirteenth century. This grand fortress rises on a hill above the city of Granada (in the south of Spain), the capital of the Moorish kingdom of that name ... The parts here reproduced are the far-famed Court of Lions, the Tribunal of Justice, the Hall of the Abencerrages, and the Divan ... In the centre of this end of the North Nave is a large fountain, one of two which stood in the Tropical Department before its destruction by fire ... The four figures which compose the lower portion are extremely beautiful works. They typify the four great families into which the human race is divided -- the white, the copper, the red, and the black. The last is remarkable for the ideal poetry with which it is treated, without the sacrifice of liberal truth ... Close to the Refreshment buffet is a door by which the visitor enters the North Tower Gardens which are brilliantly illuminated on summer evenings. To the extreme right is another door by which the visitor can descend to the Aquariums, Salmon Hatchery, Aviaries, Monkey House, and Open-air Stage ... The English Medieval Court Entering the Court from the Nave, we find, immediately facing us, the magnificent doorway from Rochester Cathedral, coloured so as to give an idea of its appearance when first erected ...The colours in this Court are not mere inventions, but have been carefully painted from those actually remaining on the monuments of each period. As a proof that this is not overdone, the visitor is referred to the arcade from Bishop Beckington's tomb at Wells (above the Rochester doorway on the Garden side), which is coloured in precise facsimile of the original, the difference being that that is faded, and this fresh. The Renaissance Court In entering this Court the visitor is immediately struck with the total change in the character of its design, all the leading features of Gothic art being absolutely abandoned ... The fountain in the centre of the Court is from the Chateau de Gaillon, in France; and on either side of the fountain are two bronze wells, from the Ducal Palace at Venice ... The Italian Court The architecture of this Court is founded on the finest palatial edifice in Rome -- the Farnese Palace ... The visitor must not fail to notice the wonderful cast of Perseus, which is placed in the Nave not far from the Italian Court. This is not only Benvenuto Cellini's best work, but one of the best of modern times. The Crystal Palace is indebted to the Duke of Sutherland for this fine cast, the only one in existence. In close proximity to the Italian Court is the entrance to the handsome suite of rooms belonging to the Crystal Palace Club ... The Pompeian Court This represents the type of a Pompeian Villa as it existed nearly eighteen hundred years ago, when the cities of Herculaneium and Pompeii, beautifully situated on the shores of the Bay of Naples, were buried beneath the lava and ashes vomited forth by Vesuvius ... The elegant decorations which adorn the walls of this Court, and the various compartments of which it is comprised, are accurate copies of original paintings, often beautiful and varied in design, found in situ among the ruins, denoting on the part of the painter a high appreciation of the art of colouring. Leaving the Pompeian House, the visitor will notice at each of the two corners of the South Transept a magnificent climbing plant of the Rhus species, which sends out its shoots twenty or thirty feet [6-9m], forming a splendid screen of immense extent. In the South Transept itself he [sic] is surrounded by various groups of men, animals, and plants, so placed as to afford an opportunity of comparing the physical and social peculiarities of each branch of the great human family. The figures were copied in each case from the life, and the greatest care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the dresses, weapons, and attitudes of the groups, which are arranged so as to present each nation or tribe in its most characteristic occupation. By this means a more vivid and abiding knowledge of the distinctive features, products, and habits of these extraordinary races may be gained than from folios of written description ... The Crystal Fountain As we look northward up the Nave -- a view which must not escape us -- [we see] the celebrated Crystal Fountain, the same that stood under the Transept of the Great Exhibition of 1851. It is, however, seen here in an entourage far more beautiful and picturesque. The gold-fish in the fountain basin, and the bright flowers and large ferns around the borders, always attract the attention of visitors ... The School of Art, Science and Literature The private studios and class rooms of the Ladies' Division of the School of Art, Science and Literature have just been removed from the North Nave to the South Wing, in which portion of the Palace the Educational Department of the Palace will in future be concentrated. There is a private entrance from the road to the studios and class rooms of the Ladies' Division. The School of Practical Engineering is in the South Tower, close to which a spacious Lecture Room has recently been erected. The entrance is on Anerley Hill, but from the Palace there is an entrance at the bottom of the first flight of stairs leading to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Station.