MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



467 



who was pointed out, bein^ bu- 

 ried up to his shoulders in earth ; 

 a |)enance which he imposed upon 

 himself for forty days, when he 

 expired. Here we halted, and 

 the priest, placing the saint's cap 

 on our head, gave us (for it was 

 the custom of the place) a short 

 blessing. The only otl)er persons 

 whose good works entitled them 

 to look for repose here were the 

 twelve men of Constantinople who 

 excavated this subterraneous re- 

 treat, about 8O0 years ago : their 

 bodies were seen collected together 

 in one chamber, and were tlie last 

 of the series that were shewn u«. 



On our return to tlie realms of 

 day, we heanl the chant of mass 

 sounding from the church of the 

 monastery, andthither we instantly 

 repaired. Tlie people whom we 

 found assembled completely tilled 

 every part of the area : it was a 

 herd of pilgrims, habited in all 

 the various costumes of the 

 southern provinces of the empire, 

 some of them being said to liave 

 made a journey on foot of fifteen 

 hundred versts, in order to dis- 

 charge their vows at Kiev : and 

 indeed their lank worn looks and 

 tattered garments seemed, in many 

 instances, to bespeak the toil- 

 someness of their undertaking. 

 W)»ile their devotions detain them 

 here, tiiey are for the most i)art 

 obliged to lie out at niglit, being 

 destitute of money to pay for lodg- 

 ing, and by day only perhaps once 

 receive refreshment, at the gia- 

 tuitous repast which is provided 

 by the Emperor in the refectory 

 of the monastery. But the enthu- 

 siasm, devotion, and superstition 

 of a Russian is easily able to sur- 

 moimt all these difticuUiew ; and 

 there is scarce a person in the 



south, either of those who have 

 sins to expiate, or of those whose 

 quiet and holy life requires some 

 notable act to grace its monoto- 

 nous career, but imposes on him- 

 self, at one time or other, tlie task 

 of performing this burdensome 

 act of over-zealous piety. The 

 ground plan of this building was 

 the same, as to distribution, which 

 seems commonly to have prevailed 

 ill all the ohler Russian churches ; 

 a Greek cross divided by four 

 square pillars in the centre, with 

 a vestibule or parvis, one arch in 

 breadth, advanced in front j the 

 rood wa.s, according to custom, 

 covered with three several ranges 

 of pictures of saints, in eompart- 

 ments of rich gUt carved woi4i, 

 profusely interspersed with peaiis, 

 lapis lazuli, turquoise.s, enamel, 

 &c. and exceeding, in gaudy cost- 

 liness, whatever we had before 

 seen displayed. 



From hence we visited the 

 churches of St. Sophie, and of the 

 miraculous St. Avaie in old Kiev, 

 where ends the ordinary course 

 of pilgrimage. 



The fornjer is the oldest church 

 in tlie Russian dominions, and 

 though not, as is said, built 

 strictly after the model of the 

 famous church of the same name 

 at Constantinople, yet was, no 

 doubt, the work of architects who 

 came from thence ; and bears on 

 the interior many traces of By- 

 zantine architecture. It is, how- 

 ever, almost a singular instance 

 of titat style; while the fashions 

 and taste of tho.se oriental nations, 

 whose character is so strongly im- 

 printed in the lineaments of the 

 Russian visage, are easily recog- 

 nised in the more durable monu- 

 ments of architecture. 



The 



