DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4719#0239
—
218
LYDIA.
is very doubtful if this was ever completed, for though two
columns of the Ionic order remain standing, and the ruins
of four others, these are the only parts left to record the
vastness of such a fallen temple; the columns also are pre-
pared for fluting, but have never been cut; and the orna-
ments of the capitals differ from each other, and appear not
wholly finished. Do these unfinished fragments indicate
the period when Pagan art expired before Christianity?
The remains of this city vary much in date; the early part,
containing a theatre, stadium, and temples, may be readily
traced, but the masses of wall composing the rest of the
city speak with certainty only of its extent; one, the
largest of these piles of buildings, must have been a palace,
consisting of distinct, long rooms with circular ends. The
earth which has fallen from the crumbling hills above has
buried great part of the buildings of the city. Two or
three small bridges, from their architecture, appear to be of
an early date.
Among the ruins is seen the beautiful arum, or snake
plant, as this species is here called, from the appearance
of its stem: it grows to an enormous size; there is one
near the spot where I am now standing eight feet high.
No description or even painting can represent the ex-
ceedingly velvet-like richness of the crimson or damson
colour of the calyx and petal; it is one of the most splen-
did of plants. The scent is far from agreeable, filling the
air with the smell of rats. "While standing perfectly still,
sketching this plant, I have been amused by watching the
tortoises basking by the water-side ; seven or eight little ones
have been playing upon the back of their mother, crawl-
ing up and down, and fighting for the most elevated part
of her shell; but upon my making the slightest movement,
they scampered dowrn the bank and dived into their secure
retreat.
Opposite to the town, and at the distance of three or four
Jtrd
Med*''
tkfUrte
PL
:
Ntkvifrff
I
218
LYDIA.
is very doubtful if this was ever completed, for though two
columns of the Ionic order remain standing, and the ruins
of four others, these are the only parts left to record the
vastness of such a fallen temple; the columns also are pre-
pared for fluting, but have never been cut; and the orna-
ments of the capitals differ from each other, and appear not
wholly finished. Do these unfinished fragments indicate
the period when Pagan art expired before Christianity?
The remains of this city vary much in date; the early part,
containing a theatre, stadium, and temples, may be readily
traced, but the masses of wall composing the rest of the
city speak with certainty only of its extent; one, the
largest of these piles of buildings, must have been a palace,
consisting of distinct, long rooms with circular ends. The
earth which has fallen from the crumbling hills above has
buried great part of the buildings of the city. Two or
three small bridges, from their architecture, appear to be of
an early date.
Among the ruins is seen the beautiful arum, or snake
plant, as this species is here called, from the appearance
of its stem: it grows to an enormous size; there is one
near the spot where I am now standing eight feet high.
No description or even painting can represent the ex-
ceedingly velvet-like richness of the crimson or damson
colour of the calyx and petal; it is one of the most splen-
did of plants. The scent is far from agreeable, filling the
air with the smell of rats. "While standing perfectly still,
sketching this plant, I have been amused by watching the
tortoises basking by the water-side ; seven or eight little ones
have been playing upon the back of their mother, crawl-
ing up and down, and fighting for the most elevated part
of her shell; but upon my making the slightest movement,
they scampered dowrn the bank and dived into their secure
retreat.
Opposite to the town, and at the distance of three or four
Jtrd
Med*''
tkfUrte
PL
:
Ntkvifrff
I