All on a sadden I found the path overlooking
a valley, with a few cocks of hay on a narrow meadow; and another turn
of the road showed me the lines of a Byzantine edifice with a graceful
dome, sheltered in a wood from the chilling winter blasts of this
highland region. Descending, and crossing the stream, we now proceeded
up to the eminence on which the convent was placed, and I perceived
thick walls and stout turrets, which bade a sturdy defiance to all
hostile intentions, except such as might be supported by artillery.
On dismounting and entering the wicket, I found myself in an extensive
court, one side of which was formed by a newly built crescent-shaped
cloister; the other by a line of irregular out-houses with wooden
stairs, _chardacks_ and other picturesque but fragile appendages of
Turkish domestic architecture.
Between these pigeon-holes and the new substantial, but mean-looking
cloister, on the other side rose the church of polished white marble,
a splendid specimen of pure Byzantine architecture, if I dare apply
such an adjective to that fantastic middle manner, which succeeded to
the style of the fourth century, and was subsequently re-cast by
Christians and Moslems into what are called the Gothic and
Saracenic.
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