DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4099#0393
358 DESERTED MONASTERY.
We passed by a fountain, and a beautiful cluster of cypresses, and
in the afternoon reached a monastery, which is about three hours from
Constantino. Nothing can surpass the beauty and interest of the view
from this solitary spot. The magnificent range of Taygeton is seen
covered with snow, and broken into a diversity of gigantic forms,
shooting up into the air, far above the rich and even plains of Mes-
senia. The continuity of the outline is interrupted by the grand
cypresses in the fore-ground. Objects, however, of a serious nature,
as immediately affecting our personal safety, now claimed our chief
attention; and I was compelled to abandon one of the most beau-
tiful views in Greece, without inserting it in my collection.
The monastery is of considerable extent; to our disappointment
we found it deserted. There were oxen and pigs in the court-yard,
and in one of the rooms we found a fire on the hearth, and two cats,
who were enjoying the remains of a dinner which had evidently
served for several persons, who had probably forsaken the place a
short time before our arrival. Whether these had been the monks
wrho had fled on account of the thieves, or the thieves themselves, we
could not ascertain. We wandered about the deserted cells and
silent corridors, but no human being could be found. The sin-
gularity of our circumstances, the dreary solitude and deep silence
of the monastery, the classic ground we were upon, together with
the magnificence of the surrounding scenery, were powerfully
impressive, and awakened a variety of emotions in my mind.
As we were exhausted with fatigue, and had a stock of provisions
with us, we would willingly have rested and have passed the night
in this place; but our guards, as if struck with a panic, had not
resolution to combat the horror that seemed inspired by the mys-
terious silence which reigned throughout the place, and appeared
to breathe suspicion through the deserted apartments. We found
a room with a square hole in the ceiling, like those I have described
in a former' part of my tour, to which Ave ascended by means of
1 At Miraka. vol. 2. c. S. p. 337.
We passed by a fountain, and a beautiful cluster of cypresses, and
in the afternoon reached a monastery, which is about three hours from
Constantino. Nothing can surpass the beauty and interest of the view
from this solitary spot. The magnificent range of Taygeton is seen
covered with snow, and broken into a diversity of gigantic forms,
shooting up into the air, far above the rich and even plains of Mes-
senia. The continuity of the outline is interrupted by the grand
cypresses in the fore-ground. Objects, however, of a serious nature,
as immediately affecting our personal safety, now claimed our chief
attention; and I was compelled to abandon one of the most beau-
tiful views in Greece, without inserting it in my collection.
The monastery is of considerable extent; to our disappointment
we found it deserted. There were oxen and pigs in the court-yard,
and in one of the rooms we found a fire on the hearth, and two cats,
who were enjoying the remains of a dinner which had evidently
served for several persons, who had probably forsaken the place a
short time before our arrival. Whether these had been the monks
wrho had fled on account of the thieves, or the thieves themselves, we
could not ascertain. We wandered about the deserted cells and
silent corridors, but no human being could be found. The sin-
gularity of our circumstances, the dreary solitude and deep silence
of the monastery, the classic ground we were upon, together with
the magnificence of the surrounding scenery, were powerfully
impressive, and awakened a variety of emotions in my mind.
As we were exhausted with fatigue, and had a stock of provisions
with us, we would willingly have rested and have passed the night
in this place; but our guards, as if struck with a panic, had not
resolution to combat the horror that seemed inspired by the mys-
terious silence which reigned throughout the place, and appeared
to breathe suspicion through the deserted apartments. We found
a room with a square hole in the ceiling, like those I have described
in a former' part of my tour, to which Ave ascended by means of
1 At Miraka. vol. 2. c. S. p. 337.