It was too pathetic for the feelings of Sophia and myselföwe fainted alternately on the sofa.

-Austen,Jane
  Love and Freindship,'Letter the 8th'.

The existence of St Sophia is atmospheric; that of St Peter's, overpowering, imminently substantial.One is a church to God; the other a salon for his agents.One is consecrated to reality, the other to illusion. St Sophia, in fact, is large, and St Peter's is vilely, tragically small.

-Byron, Robert
  The Byzantine Achievement.