Gell, William: The itinerary of Greece: With a commentary on Pausanias and Strabo and an account of the monuments of antiquity at present existing in that country (London, 1810)

ARGOS. 69

preaching stones, on the north side of the hill of the citadel, a little
below the wall of the castle. There seem to be no traces of the tem-
ples on the hill, but it commands a magnificent and extensive view
of the gulph, and of the plain of Argos.

The present town of Argos consists of a very large collection of cot-
tages, built in right lines, and generally only one story high. Among
these the houses of the rich Greek archons rise very conspicuously, and
have generally gardens and court-yards, so that the city takes up al-
most as much of the flat ground as the ancient Argos ; though it has
not four thousand inhabitants. The number of houses seems to be in-
creasing rapidly. There are few Turks in the town ; a stranger may
lodge at the house of the archon Blasopoulo, a rich Greek merchant,
with an English protection, who is civil to strangers, and enjoys a
great reputation in the country for integrity. Them is a Turkish
school in the town. A stranger should take his Janissary with him
when he walks out at Argos, as the children are troublesome. A
large church at the southern extremity of the town contains the frag-
ments of Ionic columns, and some inscriptions. Near it are two mu-
tilated statues, and in a wall is the trunk of a colossal figure of white
marble, in a costume which appears to be Roman.

One of the Mosques is said to have been erected with blocks
brought from the grove of iEsculapius in Epidauria. Some inscrip-
tions might possibly be found there. The theatre at the south eastern
extremity of the hill of Larissa, yet remains tolerably entire, the seats
being hewn out of the rock.