DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9840#0342
288 CASTLE BELVEDERE, AND A FINE SUNSET. [CHAP.
the whole afternoon. We also endured a heavy hail-
storm between two and three o1 clock : it lasted nearly
twenty minutes. Soon after three we came on the
western summit of the hills which overlook the plain
of Mesara. A descent of half an hour brought us into
the plain: we forded a tributary stream of the river
Siidsuro a little above their junction, and, somewhat less
than a mile further on, crossed a bridge of three arches,
about forty paces long, over the Sudsuro itself. A mile
further is the village of Lutra, which, with two or three
other hamlets in the neighbourhood, is known by the
name Kasteliana, derived from the Venetian fortress
Castle Belvedere, situated on a hill a little to the north
of the villages, and very conspicuous from every side.
Praesos having been supposed, by many scholars, to
be situated somewhere in this neighbourhood, as it is
also laid down by Lapie in his map of Crete, I thought
it right to be more than usually diligent in my inquiries
after ancient remains, and to examine carefully the site
of the old Venetian fortress on the hill, although I felt
quite satisfied that no vestiges, which I might find,
could ever have belonged to that city.
I did not see the least trace of any thing more ancient
than the middle-age walls, cisterns, churches and houses,
which are now in ruins on its summit. This castle is
described as having been destroyed, and but little in-
habited, in short as a ruin, nearly a century before the
Venetians lost the island8.
Though I found no antiquities, I was however re-
warded for my trouble by a glorious sunset. The rich
beams of the setting orb, as they shone over the long
and beautiful plain of Mesara, gave a beauty to the
landskip which fully justified the Venetians in the
name they bestowed on the spot.
This situation, on a lofty hill surrounded by a fertile
plain, seems so likely to have been chosen in ancient
8 Fos cakini, Relatione etc. f. 34. ccCastel hora destrutto, e poco habitato
e si pud dir rovinato."
the whole afternoon. We also endured a heavy hail-
storm between two and three o1 clock : it lasted nearly
twenty minutes. Soon after three we came on the
western summit of the hills which overlook the plain
of Mesara. A descent of half an hour brought us into
the plain: we forded a tributary stream of the river
Siidsuro a little above their junction, and, somewhat less
than a mile further on, crossed a bridge of three arches,
about forty paces long, over the Sudsuro itself. A mile
further is the village of Lutra, which, with two or three
other hamlets in the neighbourhood, is known by the
name Kasteliana, derived from the Venetian fortress
Castle Belvedere, situated on a hill a little to the north
of the villages, and very conspicuous from every side.
Praesos having been supposed, by many scholars, to
be situated somewhere in this neighbourhood, as it is
also laid down by Lapie in his map of Crete, I thought
it right to be more than usually diligent in my inquiries
after ancient remains, and to examine carefully the site
of the old Venetian fortress on the hill, although I felt
quite satisfied that no vestiges, which I might find,
could ever have belonged to that city.
I did not see the least trace of any thing more ancient
than the middle-age walls, cisterns, churches and houses,
which are now in ruins on its summit. This castle is
described as having been destroyed, and but little in-
habited, in short as a ruin, nearly a century before the
Venetians lost the island8.
Though I found no antiquities, I was however re-
warded for my trouble by a glorious sunset. The rich
beams of the setting orb, as they shone over the long
and beautiful plain of Mesara, gave a beauty to the
landskip which fully justified the Venetians in the
name they bestowed on the spot.
This situation, on a lofty hill surrounded by a fertile
plain, seems so likely to have been chosen in ancient
8 Fos cakini, Relatione etc. f. 34. ccCastel hora destrutto, e poco habitato
e si pud dir rovinato."