130 Dr A. Boue 07i the Scencrij, Sfc. 



On Mount Athos there are a number of monks, but the mo- 

 nastery is not so large. It possesses several villages, and a nar- 

 rovir valley twenty leagues in length. The building is situated 

 on the upper subalpine part of a long and very narrow valley, 

 of which it occupies the whole breadth, forming a sort of irregu- 

 lar square, with high pentagonal three-storied buildings on three 

 of the sides, whilst the fourth is occupied by the garden and 

 the bed of the torrent. 



From the outside it has the appearance of a castle with thick 

 stone walls ; there are two iron doors, and at each angle of the 

 pentagonal line a projecting tower-like building. Windows, 

 which are of a large size, occur only in the third story, as, 

 lower down, the chief apertures are loop-holes for musquetry. 

 On entering the court-yard, one is quite surprised to find a fine 

 building decorated with several fresco paintings, and provided 

 with large wooden galleries, and with three balconies on each 

 story, the galleries being supported by columns. The upper 

 story contains very elegant rooms, with Turkish divans and 

 carpets, and windows of glass, instead of paper, as is often the 

 case in Turkey. There are also some allegorical paintings on 

 the walls ; in short, it is a most convenient lodging for strangers 

 as well as for the monks. This building has been burnt down five 

 times, and is now just rebuilt a sixth time by the Turks, with 

 the assistance of foreign money. Besides the monastery with its 

 hundred rooms, they have rebuilt the church in a very hand- 

 some style, viz. in the form of a cross, with three vaulted chapels, 

 and twelve fine columns of white marble and a chloritic horn- 

 blendic rock, together with numerous gilt wooden ornaments. 

 The Turks, with their usual carelessness, have not yet pro- 

 vided a fire-engine, but the monastery is divided into three par- 

 titions, by thick walls and iron gates, so that only one part of 

 the building can be destroyed in case of fire. 



Close to the church, in the centre of the court-yard, is a very 

 old square tower, built in the time of the Servian kings, to 

 protect the holy men against robbers. An old inscription 

 in brick, states that it was erected under Stephen Duchan. 

 The monks still retain some armed peasants as a protection 

 against robbers. 



The Turkish antiquities are few, and too often scarcely to 



