DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0064
3G
ATHENS.
[Chap. nr.
Peiraeus, but they were now near enough to be distinctly
traced. The temple of Theseus was also there in almost
uninjured beauty; it is the best preserved of all the re-
maining edifices of antiquity, and has a simplicity and dig-
nity of character only to be found in the pure Doric style
of architecture. In striking contrast with these stern
remains were the many-coloured gaudy-looking houses and
villas, with pink walls and green Venetian blinds, which
rose above the mud and dirt of the town. Next to the
great mistake of fixing upon Athens as the site of the
capital of the modern kingdom of Greece, this has been the
most unpardonable : viz. allowing new houses to be built
upon the ruins and debris of the former city, where the
neglect of centuries had accumulated a mass of rubbish
sixteen or eighteen feet thick, over the pavement of ancient
Athens. This, wherever removed, has always been found
to conceal archaeological treasures of the highest interest;
and an inexhaustible mine of antiquarian wealth must still
be there. This is now lost, perhaps, for ever; centuries
may elapse before another opportunity occurs of exploring
this site with the same advantages.
The interior of the temple of Theseus has in the mean
time been converted, by order of the government, into a
temporary museum, in which are preserved all antiquities
found in the ruins and foundations of buildings about
Athens, which are declared to be the property of the state,
their exportation being prohibited. The larger articles, as
sarcophagi, marble chairs, and statues, which cannot be
carried off, are arranged under the external portico. A
wanton act of barbarism was here committed by Chosrew
Pacha during the last year of Turkish rule, which is a satis-
factory answer to the angry attacks against Lord Elgin for
removing to England so many master-pieces of Greek
sculpture, now secured from further ravages within the
walls of the British Museum. The Pacha had been in-
formed that there was a hive of honey in the N.E. corner of
the pediment, whereupon he ordered his people to obtain it
ATHENS.
[Chap. nr.
Peiraeus, but they were now near enough to be distinctly
traced. The temple of Theseus was also there in almost
uninjured beauty; it is the best preserved of all the re-
maining edifices of antiquity, and has a simplicity and dig-
nity of character only to be found in the pure Doric style
of architecture. In striking contrast with these stern
remains were the many-coloured gaudy-looking houses and
villas, with pink walls and green Venetian blinds, which
rose above the mud and dirt of the town. Next to the
great mistake of fixing upon Athens as the site of the
capital of the modern kingdom of Greece, this has been the
most unpardonable : viz. allowing new houses to be built
upon the ruins and debris of the former city, where the
neglect of centuries had accumulated a mass of rubbish
sixteen or eighteen feet thick, over the pavement of ancient
Athens. This, wherever removed, has always been found
to conceal archaeological treasures of the highest interest;
and an inexhaustible mine of antiquarian wealth must still
be there. This is now lost, perhaps, for ever; centuries
may elapse before another opportunity occurs of exploring
this site with the same advantages.
The interior of the temple of Theseus has in the mean
time been converted, by order of the government, into a
temporary museum, in which are preserved all antiquities
found in the ruins and foundations of buildings about
Athens, which are declared to be the property of the state,
their exportation being prohibited. The larger articles, as
sarcophagi, marble chairs, and statues, which cannot be
carried off, are arranged under the external portico. A
wanton act of barbarism was here committed by Chosrew
Pacha during the last year of Turkish rule, which is a satis-
factory answer to the angry attacks against Lord Elgin for
removing to England so many master-pieces of Greek
sculpture, now secured from further ravages within the
walls of the British Museum. The Pacha had been in-
formed that there was a hive of honey in the N.E. corner of
the pediment, whereupon he ordered his people to obtain it