38 



JOURNEY THROUGH MAINA, 



is also vaulted with groined arches, and the aspect to the north. In 

 these bath-rooms remain contrivances for heating the apartments, 

 and in one the wall is cased with tiles, perforated for the admission 

 of steam. A small bath is at the end of the eastern suit of rooms, 

 which has been lined with stucco. This has been supplied with hot 

 water from the pipes. The water used here appears from the sedi- 

 ment near the pipes and on the walls to have been impregnated with 

 sulphur. A detached semi-circular reservoir, still traceable to the 

 east of the building, supplied the water for its use. The rooms to 

 the north east are in ruins ; the rest, though stripped of the marble 

 ornaments which once adorned them, remain entire. The bricks are 

 of the size and texture of the Ptoman bricks, and probably the build- 

 ing itself must be referred to that people. I find no mention of it in 

 any ancient author, but from the style of the construction could not 

 refer it to any more recent period ; though it appears to have been 

 used long after the decline of Roman dominion. 



From hence we continued our journey to Palaeo-castro, a village 

 still inhabited, and surrounded with the ruins of an ancient city. 

 They cover the space of nearly the circuit of two miles, and parts of 

 the ancient wall of Thuria may be traced by the foundations that re- 

 main. These are all upon a hill at the foot of Taygetus, which retains 

 many vestiges of the former town. Amongst them lie scattered 

 several marble tympana of fluted columns of the Doric order ; pro- 

 bably the remains of the temple dedicated to the Syrian goddess, of 

 which at least we found no other indication. There is a large oblong 

 cistern or tank hewn in the rock, and coated with a cement that still 

 adheres to many parts of its sides, which we found on measurement 

 to be twenty-three yards long and sixteen broad. The depth of it is 

 now about fourteen feet : much soil having fallen into it. The walls 

 are not so distinctly traceable as to enable us to ascertain the exact 

 extent of this ancient city; the vestiges of that which was subsequently 

 inhabited in the plain are far more indistinct. The soil there is rich 

 and deep, and broken into platforms and angles of very singular ap- 

 pearance, by the waters from the mountains. Some of these are so 



