Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/393

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APPENDIX.
341

together is remarkable. They consist of a square tomb with a projecting front between two arched tombs; the rock out of which they are cut is painted blue and red. Close to these is a rock tomb and sarcophagus. The tomb is a square one, and is cut out of the solid rock; the sarcophagus is placed on it. In the panels of the lid are bas-reliefs, on one side a draped male figure seated, on the other a draped female figure with a girl standing before her and holding her by the hand. The knobs on the roof are sculptured into lions heads. A little to the right, below these, is a very fine Ionic tomb, cut in the red limestone. It consists of a, portico surmounted by a pediment, supported in the centre by a graceful Ionic column. The front inside the portico is panelled in the usual way. On the architrave above the door is a long and well preserved Greek inscription of a good period. Above the tomb is a small sarcophagus.

Friday, 24th.—From Jaghù to Deriaghassy,[1] at the mouth of the Dembra Gorge, the road leads over the mountains in an easterly direction; the fields at first covered with the little blue flowers we had observed on approaching Cyaneæ In about two hours and a half we reached the end of the mountains on this side, and began to descend into a magnificent plain, through which a silver river wound its way; on its banks fine myrtles and oleanders were growing. Beyond, the dark and stern-looking mountains in the distance formed a fine contrast with this rich plain. In about three hours from the top of the mountain, and having crossed the river, which was both wide and deep, we reached the water-mill where we intended to take up our quarters.

The cathedral at Deriaghassy is a fine building of Byzantine architecture, and rises in solitary grandeur from the plain. All the interior decoration is gone, but the walls remain, and the plan of the church is still perfect. The porch, the pronaos, the body of the church covered with a dome, the apsis, and the stairs which led to the women's gallery, may all be traced. Baptisteries of octagon shape stand on the north and south side. An accurate plan of this cathedral is given by Spratt and Forbes (Lycia, i. p. 105), so I contented myself with making a, few photographs of the interior.

On a summit of a lofty mountain at the mouth of the Dembra Gorge are the ruins of a small city. The greater part of the walls

  1. Called Tchesemay in Spratt's Map of Lycia.