Nevertheless, aside from temples and palaces, there are
certain works of public utility which are forced upon all civilizations,
and among all organized peoples a domestic architecture exists which
answers to their needs and which we cannot pass over in silence.
The sacred books of the Hindoos give us the plans on which their cities
were built. There were forty different kinds of cities, distinguished
one from the other by their extent and form. The streets crossed at
right angles. The centre of the city was reserved for sacred uses and
was inhabited by the Brahmins; around them dwelt the people, and the
angles were occupied by the exchanges, markets, colleges and other
public structures. The city was always walled, with a gate on each of
the four sides and one at each corner.
Private dwellings varied in height according to the rank of the owners.
Those of the inferior classes could have only one story above the
ground-floor, and in most cases they were limited to the ground-floor
itself. The door was never placed in the centre of the facade. Its
position, as well as its height and breadth, was fixed by rule; the same
was true of the windows. The streets were supplied with running water,
and adorned with avenues of trees; they were bordered by rich shops and
houses set close together, with no intervening spaces. The palaces,
which were composed of separate buildings, approached by porches, were
usually erected around small courts, and these courts were almost always
planted with trees.
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