DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.809#0123
98
MINOAN VIADUCT SOUTH OF THE PALACE
W. Pier
Point of
abut-
ment of
N. Sec-
tion.
Leading
toStepped
Portico
beyond.
Charac-
ter of
masonry.
8 metres from the ground. The roadway itself would have been raised
quite 10 metres above the outer ground level or about 32! feet. (See
restored sketch, Fig. 46 h)
The portion of the base of the Viaduct thus excavated was 21-50 metres
(68| feet) in length. It consists of four piers with intervals, of which the first
pier, though broken away at its extremity, is 4-60 metres wide or nearly
a metre and a half more than the others. The natural rock of the slope
here juts forward so that the West end of the stone-work is little more than
a facing. This end of the pier approaches the present bed of the brook.
There are reasons for supposing that the main course of the Vlychia torrent
originally ran along the Northern border of its glen, close by the point where
the Stepped Portico on that side begins, and where the most recent
exploration has revealed a deep embankment wall. Whether or not there
may have been some tributary watercourse following the same direction as
that at present taken by the stream, this projection of the rock seems to mark
the point where the Viaduct took a Northerly turn. This would have
enabled it to cross the main channel of the Vlychia, a little farther off
on that side, at a right angle, its bridge-head thus linking on to the walled
embankment and the road system and stepways beyond, of which more will be
said in Section 38, below.
The courses of masonry below the level of the steps were composed of
roughly hewn blocks with a good deal of filling in of smaller stones and chips
with clay mortar in their interstices. This part of the structure, which possibly
goes back to an earlier date, was evidently less conspicuous to the eye and
perhaps at times under water. Above the level of the lowest step, however, the
work improves and, especially in pier 3, well-squared ashlar masonry is visible,
sometimes showing a system of headers and stretchers. The stone-work
was finely compacted with a very hard clay mortar which gave the whole
structure great solidity.2 The dimensions of the better squared blocks
ranged up to about 1-75 m. by o-6o m., of the more roughly hewn to
1 From a drawing by Mr. Theodore Fyfe,
F.R.I.B.A., Master of the School of Archi-
tecture in the University of Cambridge, based
on the elevation of M. Piet de Jong, Architect
of the British School at Athens.
2 The construction here presents a very
distinct contrast to that of the abutment of
the great bridge S.E. of Mycenae (see Fig. 43,
above: from a photograph taken by me in
1924). The blocks there, of which seven
courses are visible, have thicker proportions,
and are fitted together in a manner roughly
resembling polygonal masonry. They contain
very few smaller stones in their interstices nor
is any clay mortar visible. Blocks measured
by me there were 1-15 and 1-30 m. in length
and 80-85 cm- high-
MINOAN VIADUCT SOUTH OF THE PALACE
W. Pier
Point of
abut-
ment of
N. Sec-
tion.
Leading
toStepped
Portico
beyond.
Charac-
ter of
masonry.
8 metres from the ground. The roadway itself would have been raised
quite 10 metres above the outer ground level or about 32! feet. (See
restored sketch, Fig. 46 h)
The portion of the base of the Viaduct thus excavated was 21-50 metres
(68| feet) in length. It consists of four piers with intervals, of which the first
pier, though broken away at its extremity, is 4-60 metres wide or nearly
a metre and a half more than the others. The natural rock of the slope
here juts forward so that the West end of the stone-work is little more than
a facing. This end of the pier approaches the present bed of the brook.
There are reasons for supposing that the main course of the Vlychia torrent
originally ran along the Northern border of its glen, close by the point where
the Stepped Portico on that side begins, and where the most recent
exploration has revealed a deep embankment wall. Whether or not there
may have been some tributary watercourse following the same direction as
that at present taken by the stream, this projection of the rock seems to mark
the point where the Viaduct took a Northerly turn. This would have
enabled it to cross the main channel of the Vlychia, a little farther off
on that side, at a right angle, its bridge-head thus linking on to the walled
embankment and the road system and stepways beyond, of which more will be
said in Section 38, below.
The courses of masonry below the level of the steps were composed of
roughly hewn blocks with a good deal of filling in of smaller stones and chips
with clay mortar in their interstices. This part of the structure, which possibly
goes back to an earlier date, was evidently less conspicuous to the eye and
perhaps at times under water. Above the level of the lowest step, however, the
work improves and, especially in pier 3, well-squared ashlar masonry is visible,
sometimes showing a system of headers and stretchers. The stone-work
was finely compacted with a very hard clay mortar which gave the whole
structure great solidity.2 The dimensions of the better squared blocks
ranged up to about 1-75 m. by o-6o m., of the more roughly hewn to
1 From a drawing by Mr. Theodore Fyfe,
F.R.I.B.A., Master of the School of Archi-
tecture in the University of Cambridge, based
on the elevation of M. Piet de Jong, Architect
of the British School at Athens.
2 The construction here presents a very
distinct contrast to that of the abutment of
the great bridge S.E. of Mycenae (see Fig. 43,
above: from a photograph taken by me in
1924). The blocks there, of which seven
courses are visible, have thicker proportions,
and are fitted together in a manner roughly
resembling polygonal masonry. They contain
very few smaller stones in their interstices nor
is any clay mortar visible. Blocks measured
by me there were 1-15 and 1-30 m. in length
and 80-85 cm- high-