DISCOVERY 



259 



and, in the liigher parts, of larch. The lowei parts of 

 the mountain are of crystalline limestone ; the summit 

 is of pure white marble, with a thick grain similar to, 

 and almost indistinguishable from, that of Parian. 

 The ascent of the mountain, which requires two davs, 

 is best made from the village of Banitsa on the north 

 side. Thence a path leads to the monastery of 

 Eikosiphoinissis, which is built in a wooded hollow at 

 a height of 1,200 ft., and overhangs the village of 

 Nikisian on the east side. This monastery was built 

 between the j^ears a.d. 443 and 454, in the time of 

 Sozon. Metropolitan of Philippi. A pure and plentiful 

 spring flows out here and is said to have appeared at 

 the founding of the monastery. From here the path 

 ascends steeply along a ridge on the south-east face 



(if Amphipolis and the line of the river clear and distinct. 

 l~rom the summit the same path is said to run on down 

 the west slopes of the mountain straight into Amphi- 

 polis. Near the smnmit is another cave, small and 

 shallow, known as Chionistra, and in it snow lies 

 unmelted all the summer. 



The villagers of Pang;eum say that there are traces 

 of old mine workings on the stimmit near Chionistra, 

 on the lower southern slopes above Xikisian, and at a 

 place near the village of Mosorop known as Asimo- 

 tripi, or " Silver Holes." 



Pangseum is known to the Turks as Pilaf Tepe, the 

 " Hill of Rice," because of its snowy cone-shaped 

 summit ; or Pirnar Dagh, because of the spring at 

 the monaster}-. By the Bulgars it is called Gushnitsa. 



THE JIOX.VSTERV OF EIKOSIPHOIXISSIS. 



and passes an enormous cave known locally as Asceto- 

 tripo, or " Monk's Hole." The full extent of this cave 

 I was not able to ascertain, but there were at least 

 three large chambers in succession leading into the 

 heart of the mountain. Beyond the cave is a wide 

 extent of beech forest, the floor of which, in April, was 

 covered in the more open parts with cowslips and wild 

 lilies-of-the-valley, and on the outskirts of the trees 

 with peonies and wild roses. The forest came to an 

 abrttpt end just below the snow-line, and the path 

 emerged into a steep ascent known as Scala Denas. 

 Perhaps in this name we can see a survival of the name 

 of Dionysus, which is not otherwise preserved in the 

 district. In and round the snow was a profusion of 

 crocus, squill, and grape-hyacinth. The path to the stim- 

 mit bends round the northern face and commands a 

 view of the whole of the Struma valley, with the site 



The Greeks retain or have revived the ancient 

 name. 



Where, then, were the gold and silver mines of 

 antiquity and where was the Oracle of Dionysus ? 

 Where did the tribes of Satrse and their priests of the 

 Bessi tribe live, the people whom Herodotus says 

 were never subdued by any man ? 



The main problem of the gold and silver of Panga;um 

 has yet to be solved. The problem, generally stated, 

 is this. Mount Pangjeum or the Pangsan area, that 

 is to say, the mountain together with the Drama 

 plain to the east, the Angista ^•alley to the north, 

 the lower part of the Struma valley on the left bank 

 of the river to the west, and the rugged coast at the 

 foot of the mountain on the south, is fixed by innumer- 

 able references in ancient authors as the greatest and 

 most important mining area of the eastern Mediter- 



