DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0179
THE SHRINES OF ATTICA 157
you were not on the water. When you have made
this reservation in regard to dust, you have little
occasion to revile Athens in other respects. It has
pure air and a good supply of water. There are
open squares, and the palace garden furnishes agree-
able shade. There is a lack of shade-trees in many
streets where they would be both pleasant and orna-
mental; but Kephisia Street is beautifully flanked
with graceful pepper-trees.
"There is a new Rome," I said to a friend. "Yes,
and how ugly it is! " There is a new Athens,
too; but it cannot be called ugly. It lacks, to be
sure, that picturesqueness, variety, mellowness and
general flavor of antiquity which you find in some of
the old Italian cities. These square, solid white
buildings are a trifle monotonous; but they are re-
lieved here and there by others, such as the Schlie-
mann mansion and some of the new houses on
Kephisia Street, in which there is a union of mass
and elegance. The old Greek columns are used spar-
ingly in the new city, except in public buildings,
where they naturally belong. The new houses are
constructed more with a reference to the necessities
of modern life than to the worship of the gods.
There is generally a small courtyard, often planted
with orange and lemon trees, through which one
passes to the main entrance. The rooms are high-
studded, on account of the summer heat; and the bal-
cony is a common feature. I suspect that modern
Athens, for the average resident, is altogether a pleas-
antcr, more comfortable and more beautiful city, as
a dwelling-place, than was the old one, except for
the wealthy classes. Certainly, they did not have
you were not on the water. When you have made
this reservation in regard to dust, you have little
occasion to revile Athens in other respects. It has
pure air and a good supply of water. There are
open squares, and the palace garden furnishes agree-
able shade. There is a lack of shade-trees in many
streets where they would be both pleasant and orna-
mental; but Kephisia Street is beautifully flanked
with graceful pepper-trees.
"There is a new Rome," I said to a friend. "Yes,
and how ugly it is! " There is a new Athens,
too; but it cannot be called ugly. It lacks, to be
sure, that picturesqueness, variety, mellowness and
general flavor of antiquity which you find in some of
the old Italian cities. These square, solid white
buildings are a trifle monotonous; but they are re-
lieved here and there by others, such as the Schlie-
mann mansion and some of the new houses on
Kephisia Street, in which there is a union of mass
and elegance. The old Greek columns are used spar-
ingly in the new city, except in public buildings,
where they naturally belong. The new houses are
constructed more with a reference to the necessities
of modern life than to the worship of the gods.
There is generally a small courtyard, often planted
with orange and lemon trees, through which one
passes to the main entrance. The rooms are high-
studded, on account of the summer heat; and the bal-
cony is a common feature. I suspect that modern
Athens, for the average resident, is altogether a pleas-
antcr, more comfortable and more beautiful city, as
a dwelling-place, than was the old one, except for
the wealthy classes. Certainly, they did not have