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PROFESSOR SfR W. M. RAMSAY, D.C.L., ON 



The intercourse between Asia and Europe has been, in the past, 

 far too much a history of war. In the near future it may be, 

 not a history of war, but of peace, a peaceful inter-action of 

 forces of civilisation. 



Now it fell to our lot in 1907 to attempt to form some picture 

 of a small town which lies to the south-east of Anatolia, about 

 fifty miles from Iconia, and eighteen miles from the German 

 Baghdad railway. You have there a great volcanic mountain 

 consisting of two great craters which forms an island of 

 mountain rising directly out of the plain of Lycaonia, 

 3,500 feet above the general level of the plateau. On the 

 extreme northern side is a little valley whicli runs in from the 

 open plain and is nearly surrounded by the arms of the 

 mountain, forming an oval plain about three miles long, and 

 a mile and a half to two miles in breadth. The southern half 

 of this little plain and the slope of the mountains which lie 

 immediately above it to the south-west form the site of a 

 city which it was our object to investigate. The city was very 

 picturesque, and was called ordinarily the city of the thousand 

 and one churches. In the East numbers move rapidily, you go 

 on from three to ten, forty to a thousand and one, the main 

 steps of enumeration. 



The one striking character oP the city, which is a very 

 considerable one, quite one and a half miles in length and 

 breadth at its extreme points, is the large number of churches. 

 There are at any rate, at least thirty. Many travellers have 

 examined in a superficial way, these churches, and given some 

 brief accounts, others have been fascinated by the natural beauty 

 of the scene. 



It was our object in the first place to form some idea of the 

 architectural character of the cliurches. The first question 

 which started us on our investigation was the question of date. 

 To what period should these churches be assigned ? The 

 question widened itself very much when we came to practical 

 work. So many other points of interest always present 

 themselves as soon as you get started on any investigation in 

 Asia Minor, and the possibility of investigation is limited by 

 the question of expense. We were only able to scratch the 

 surface and uncover the churches far enough to lind out their 

 plan of construction and general relation to each other. Our 

 programme was a double one. How were we to arrange any 

 chronological order in the series of clmrclies ? There were 

 another series of at least thirty which lie on the northern 

 outskirts of the mountains. Could we arrange these in order 



