DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0494
Chap. xxvi.J
ESKI KARA HISSAR.
461
loped. The concentric masses were often ten or twelve feet
in diameter, each separate layer or lamina being about
an inch in thickness; the circles which surrounded each
nucleus were generally extended, until they came in contact
with each other; and lying by the road-side were also many
globular masses, which had been the nuclei of similar
systems of concentric rings. The character of the rock was
in places scoriaceous and vesicular.
From this hill we descended by a steep and rocky road
resembling a bad staircase, and at half-past twelve we
reached Eski Kara Hissar, situated at the northern ex-
tremity of a small plain, and watered by a river which we
crossed in the town, by a marble bridge, apparently of an-
cient construction. The place itself, which is near the cele-
brated quarries of Synnadic or Docimitic marble, contains
numerous blocks of marble and columns, some in the rough
and others beautifully worked. In an open space near the
mosque was a most exquisitely finished marble bath, in-
tended perhaps to have adorned a Roman villa; and in the
wall of the mosque and cemetery were some richly carved
friezes and cornices finished in the most elaborate style of
the Ionic and Corinthian orders I had ever beheld. They
could not have been destined for any building on this
spot, but were probably worked near the quarries for the
greater facility of transport, as is still done at Carrara.
Many rough blocks were also there with rude marks and
characters on them, or with the names of emperors or
consuls, and sometimes a numeral. I also copied several
inscriptions in different parts of the village, which were
generally in good preservation.*
In the afternoon, having procured a guide, I proceeded
to visit the quarries, about two miles and a half to the S.E.,
on the east side of the plain, which extends to the south.
Before reaching them their existence was pointed out by
a hundred little mounds or monticules of chippings from
the extracted blocks, as well as surrounding the entrance
* See Appendix, Nos. 161—164.
ESKI KARA HISSAR.
461
loped. The concentric masses were often ten or twelve feet
in diameter, each separate layer or lamina being about
an inch in thickness; the circles which surrounded each
nucleus were generally extended, until they came in contact
with each other; and lying by the road-side were also many
globular masses, which had been the nuclei of similar
systems of concentric rings. The character of the rock was
in places scoriaceous and vesicular.
From this hill we descended by a steep and rocky road
resembling a bad staircase, and at half-past twelve we
reached Eski Kara Hissar, situated at the northern ex-
tremity of a small plain, and watered by a river which we
crossed in the town, by a marble bridge, apparently of an-
cient construction. The place itself, which is near the cele-
brated quarries of Synnadic or Docimitic marble, contains
numerous blocks of marble and columns, some in the rough
and others beautifully worked. In an open space near the
mosque was a most exquisitely finished marble bath, in-
tended perhaps to have adorned a Roman villa; and in the
wall of the mosque and cemetery were some richly carved
friezes and cornices finished in the most elaborate style of
the Ionic and Corinthian orders I had ever beheld. They
could not have been destined for any building on this
spot, but were probably worked near the quarries for the
greater facility of transport, as is still done at Carrara.
Many rough blocks were also there with rude marks and
characters on them, or with the names of emperors or
consuls, and sometimes a numeral. I also copied several
inscriptions in different parts of the village, which were
generally in good preservation.*
In the afternoon, having procured a guide, I proceeded
to visit the quarries, about two miles and a half to the S.E.,
on the east side of the plain, which extends to the south.
Before reaching them their existence was pointed out by
a hundred little mounds or monticules of chippings from
the extracted blocks, as well as surrounding the entrance
* See Appendix, Nos. 161—164.