DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4098#0534
486 MONASTERY OF SIRGIANI.
seemed to welcome us in the absence of their masters. We took
complete possession of the place, and feasted on the produce of the
deserted mansion, which seemed to have been prepared for our re-
ception. We barricadoed the doors with great poles; and, as it
grew dark, expected to hear the astonished monks demanding admit-
tance : but they did not come ; and no noise during the night dis-
turbed the tranquillity of our solitary abode. We slept in a room, to
which we ascended by a ladder, which we pulled up after us.
This place is called Cos-Bashi, "sheep's head," by the Turks, from
the marble head of a sheep, which is near the fountain ; but its most
common appellation is Sirgiani; a Turkish word, which has been
adopted in the modern Greek. A small church and a neat garden
are within the convent walls. The next morning we rose with the
sun, anxious to examine our situation, which is one of the most
secluded I ever beheld. The convent stands in a glen, at the very
foot of the mountain, and is excluded from the plain by the hill, on
which are the remains of the city already mentioned. The surround-
ing rocks are adorned with scattered pines and olive trees; and the
general verdure of this sequestered locality forms a striking contrast
with the parched and yellow hue of the Athenian plain. Above
the monastery is a clear and copious fountain of perennial water,
which is the source of the Ilissos. The surrounding grass is of a
lively green, and speckled with the cyclamen, the starry hyacinth,
the amaryllis lutea, and the purple crocus. There was a place1 near
Hymettos, called Kullopera f where there was a temple3 of Venus,
and a fountain which Cratinus calls Kallia, and from which preg-
nant women used to drink, as its water was supposed to alleviate the
pangs of parturition; while by the same expedient those who were
barren became fruitful. This, Meursius4 supposes to have been the
fountain mentioned by Ovid,5 where Procris was killed by Cephalus.
1 Xwpioi'. Suidas, Lexic. vol. 2. p. 393. ~ KvWov Hvpa> °r Kv\\o7njpa.
3 hpov. 4 Reliq. Attic. 5 De Arte Amandi, b. 3.
seemed to welcome us in the absence of their masters. We took
complete possession of the place, and feasted on the produce of the
deserted mansion, which seemed to have been prepared for our re-
ception. We barricadoed the doors with great poles; and, as it
grew dark, expected to hear the astonished monks demanding admit-
tance : but they did not come ; and no noise during the night dis-
turbed the tranquillity of our solitary abode. We slept in a room, to
which we ascended by a ladder, which we pulled up after us.
This place is called Cos-Bashi, "sheep's head," by the Turks, from
the marble head of a sheep, which is near the fountain ; but its most
common appellation is Sirgiani; a Turkish word, which has been
adopted in the modern Greek. A small church and a neat garden
are within the convent walls. The next morning we rose with the
sun, anxious to examine our situation, which is one of the most
secluded I ever beheld. The convent stands in a glen, at the very
foot of the mountain, and is excluded from the plain by the hill, on
which are the remains of the city already mentioned. The surround-
ing rocks are adorned with scattered pines and olive trees; and the
general verdure of this sequestered locality forms a striking contrast
with the parched and yellow hue of the Athenian plain. Above
the monastery is a clear and copious fountain of perennial water,
which is the source of the Ilissos. The surrounding grass is of a
lively green, and speckled with the cyclamen, the starry hyacinth,
the amaryllis lutea, and the purple crocus. There was a place1 near
Hymettos, called Kullopera f where there was a temple3 of Venus,
and a fountain which Cratinus calls Kallia, and from which preg-
nant women used to drink, as its water was supposed to alleviate the
pangs of parturition; while by the same expedient those who were
barren became fruitful. This, Meursius4 supposes to have been the
fountain mentioned by Ovid,5 where Procris was killed by Cephalus.
1 Xwpioi'. Suidas, Lexic. vol. 2. p. 393. ~ KvWov Hvpa> °r Kv\\o7njpa.
3 hpov. 4 Reliq. Attic. 5 De Arte Amandi, b. 3.