DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45603#0032
172
II. B. 4.
certainly, a bath, with dependencies in the nature of inns or taverns; the small structure
adjoining the great group at the southwest is, without question, a small bath, possibly
for women. The oblong building shown on the map of Babiska, at the southeast of
the group, was another inn connected, in all probability, with the larger bath. Let
us begin our discussion of the building at the north, where the most suggestive remains
are visible, and where some of the most important details are preserved. The north
wall is a lofty mass of masonry, unbroken in the ground story save by an arch, the
unadorned voussoirs of which may barely be seen above the debris that lies heaped
up against the wall. This north wall is 1.10 m. thick on the ground story, above this
it is of the ordinary thickness, and is pierced by three round headed windows. At its
west end this wall turns southward, with a broad arch in the lower story and two
windows in the upper floor, and abuts a towering pier, T-form in plan, that rises to
a height of 10 meters. This T-form pier is of great importance to the plan, for it
is one of four that stood at the angles of a square, three of which are still quite well
preserved. At the east end of the north wall is a gigantic heap of ruins made by
the collapse of the fourth great pier. East of this, and a little to the south, beyond
the pile of debris, is a comparatively well preserved section of the building (Pl.XIX,
North Elevation). Here is an arch, - the outer arch of a vestibule that was the main
entrance to the building —, with the wall of an upper story rising above it, and, again
to the east, near the re-entrant angle, a deep alcove with a hole in its floor, like the
opening of a well or cistern. In front of this is a section of pavement which I took
to be the covering of a cistern. This point marks the northeast angle of the building;
from it a long unbroken wall extends 10 m. to the south. We may now return, and
enter the arch of the vestibule which is pretty well choked up with debris that has
rolled in from the mass of ruins outside. Within the arch is a doorway with a richly
carved lintel suggesting the lintel within the arch at the East Church, which is dated
480 A.D. Passing through the doorway one encounters the inner arch of the vestibule
beyond which stretches a long corridor or portico. On the left is a wall of two stories
with three doorways on the ground floor, one opening into a very small apartment
with thick walls, which looks like the sudatorium of a small bath; the other doorways
open into two chambers of no great size. At the end of the corridor is a blank wall.
On the right, as one enters from the vestibule, is a doorway in a short wall, and,
beyond this, a row of piers, — a portico —, fronting upon an open court or garden.
The doorway to the right leads into the end of another portico which terminates in a
staircase, at the west side of the building. This portico is completely ruined. If one
looks up as he enters the doorway, he will observe another doorway in the story above,
which shows that this portico, like the other, had two stories. As one enters he
realizes that the most interesting part of the building must lie in the gigantic heap of
fallen material within the wall on the right. The heap is so great that one must climb
up to the top of the wall (X), where he finds himself on the level of the upper story;
it is the plan of the upper story of this part of the building (Ill. 180, Upper Floor)
that one must decipher before the half-buried lower story can be made clear. Directly
opposite as you face the north, standing at X, rises the wall with three windows in
it that we have already seen from the outside (Section E F, actual state). In front
of this is a piece of pavement which is supported by a broken tunnel vault running
east and west. The partly hidden arch in the north wall that we have seen from the
II. B. 4.
certainly, a bath, with dependencies in the nature of inns or taverns; the small structure
adjoining the great group at the southwest is, without question, a small bath, possibly
for women. The oblong building shown on the map of Babiska, at the southeast of
the group, was another inn connected, in all probability, with the larger bath. Let
us begin our discussion of the building at the north, where the most suggestive remains
are visible, and where some of the most important details are preserved. The north
wall is a lofty mass of masonry, unbroken in the ground story save by an arch, the
unadorned voussoirs of which may barely be seen above the debris that lies heaped
up against the wall. This north wall is 1.10 m. thick on the ground story, above this
it is of the ordinary thickness, and is pierced by three round headed windows. At its
west end this wall turns southward, with a broad arch in the lower story and two
windows in the upper floor, and abuts a towering pier, T-form in plan, that rises to
a height of 10 meters. This T-form pier is of great importance to the plan, for it
is one of four that stood at the angles of a square, three of which are still quite well
preserved. At the east end of the north wall is a gigantic heap of ruins made by
the collapse of the fourth great pier. East of this, and a little to the south, beyond
the pile of debris, is a comparatively well preserved section of the building (Pl.XIX,
North Elevation). Here is an arch, - the outer arch of a vestibule that was the main
entrance to the building —, with the wall of an upper story rising above it, and, again
to the east, near the re-entrant angle, a deep alcove with a hole in its floor, like the
opening of a well or cistern. In front of this is a section of pavement which I took
to be the covering of a cistern. This point marks the northeast angle of the building;
from it a long unbroken wall extends 10 m. to the south. We may now return, and
enter the arch of the vestibule which is pretty well choked up with debris that has
rolled in from the mass of ruins outside. Within the arch is a doorway with a richly
carved lintel suggesting the lintel within the arch at the East Church, which is dated
480 A.D. Passing through the doorway one encounters the inner arch of the vestibule
beyond which stretches a long corridor or portico. On the left is a wall of two stories
with three doorways on the ground floor, one opening into a very small apartment
with thick walls, which looks like the sudatorium of a small bath; the other doorways
open into two chambers of no great size. At the end of the corridor is a blank wall.
On the right, as one enters from the vestibule, is a doorway in a short wall, and,
beyond this, a row of piers, — a portico —, fronting upon an open court or garden.
The doorway to the right leads into the end of another portico which terminates in a
staircase, at the west side of the building. This portico is completely ruined. If one
looks up as he enters the doorway, he will observe another doorway in the story above,
which shows that this portico, like the other, had two stories. As one enters he
realizes that the most interesting part of the building must lie in the gigantic heap of
fallen material within the wall on the right. The heap is so great that one must climb
up to the top of the wall (X), where he finds himself on the level of the upper story;
it is the plan of the upper story of this part of the building (Ill. 180, Upper Floor)
that one must decipher before the half-buried lower story can be made clear. Directly
opposite as you face the north, standing at X, rises the wall with three windows in
it that we have already seen from the outside (Section E F, actual state). In front
of this is a piece of pavement which is supported by a broken tunnel vault running
east and west. The partly hidden arch in the north wall that we have seen from the