DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4719#0149
128
PAMPHYLIA.
the city which was one pile of temples, theatres, and build-
ings, vying with each other in splendour; the elevated site
for such a city is quite unaccountable to me. The material
of these ruins, like those near Alaysoon, had suffered much
from exposure to the elements, being grey with a lichen
which has eaten into the marble, and entirely destroyed the
surface and inscriptions ; but the scale, the simple grandeur,
and the uniform beauty of style bespoke its date to be the
early Greek. The sculptured cornices frequently contain
groups of figures fighting, wearing helmets and body-armour,
with shields and long spears; from the ill-proportioned
figures and general appearance, they must rank in date with
the iEgina marbles now at Munich. The ruins are so
thickly strewn that little cultivation is practicable, but in
the areas of theatres, cellas of temples, and any space
where a plough can be used, the wheat is springing up.
The general style of the temples is Corinthian, but not
so florid as in less ancient towns. The tombs are scattered
for a mile from the town, and are of many kinds, some
cut in chambers in the face of the rock, others sarcophagi
of the heaviest form; they have had inscriptions, and the
ornaments are almost all martial; several seats remain
amongst the tombs. I can scarcely guess the number of
temples or columned buildings in the town, but I certainly
traced fifty or sixty; and in places where there were no
remains above the surface I frequently saw vast arched
vaults, similar to those forming the foundations of great
public buildings. Although apparently unnecessary for
defence, the town has had strong walls, partly built with
large stones in the Cyclopean mode. There is no trace
of any successors to the earliest occupants. I never con-
ceived so high an idea of the works of the ancients as
from my visit to this place, standing as it does in a situa-
tion, as it were, above the world.
It is difficult to state the exact situation of the town by
.
ot fiiom the tents a I
I
«fl Tip; I tftfc «
■
1
'::-
PAMPHYLIA.
the city which was one pile of temples, theatres, and build-
ings, vying with each other in splendour; the elevated site
for such a city is quite unaccountable to me. The material
of these ruins, like those near Alaysoon, had suffered much
from exposure to the elements, being grey with a lichen
which has eaten into the marble, and entirely destroyed the
surface and inscriptions ; but the scale, the simple grandeur,
and the uniform beauty of style bespoke its date to be the
early Greek. The sculptured cornices frequently contain
groups of figures fighting, wearing helmets and body-armour,
with shields and long spears; from the ill-proportioned
figures and general appearance, they must rank in date with
the iEgina marbles now at Munich. The ruins are so
thickly strewn that little cultivation is practicable, but in
the areas of theatres, cellas of temples, and any space
where a plough can be used, the wheat is springing up.
The general style of the temples is Corinthian, but not
so florid as in less ancient towns. The tombs are scattered
for a mile from the town, and are of many kinds, some
cut in chambers in the face of the rock, others sarcophagi
of the heaviest form; they have had inscriptions, and the
ornaments are almost all martial; several seats remain
amongst the tombs. I can scarcely guess the number of
temples or columned buildings in the town, but I certainly
traced fifty or sixty; and in places where there were no
remains above the surface I frequently saw vast arched
vaults, similar to those forming the foundations of great
public buildings. Although apparently unnecessary for
defence, the town has had strong walls, partly built with
large stones in the Cyclopean mode. There is no trace
of any successors to the earliest occupants. I never con-
ceived so high an idea of the works of the ancients as
from my visit to this place, standing as it does in a situa-
tion, as it were, above the world.
It is difficult to state the exact situation of the town by
.
ot fiiom the tents a I
I
«fl Tip; I tftfc «
■
1
'::-