THE AGORA. 



235 



TEPMH22EQNTQN 



MEI20NQN nOAIS. 

 Above the avenue to the west, appears to have 

 been the habitable portion of the city, — the build- 

 ings there, which are all fallen, having the aspect 

 of the remains of dwelling-houses. To the south 

 and east, the ground is covered by public edi- 

 fices, many in tolerable preservation, others pro- 

 strate, — all of substantial architecture. In the 

 centre is an open levelled space, which from an 

 inscription proved to be the Agora. In the 

 midst of it stands an isolated rock, about fifteen 

 feet high, surmounted by a plain sarcophagus, 

 below which, at the head of a flight of steps 

 hewn out of a rock, is a recess with a seat (a 

 Bema?). There are also niches for votive 

 tablets. The area of the Agora is undermined 

 by extensive cisterns, the roofs of which are 

 supported by massive pillars and arches. This 

 area seems during the middle ages to have been 

 enclosed by the walls and cells of a monastery, 

 one of the very few remains of Christian 

 origin at this site. Termessus was the seat of 

 an episcopal see. Around the Agora are the 

 most important public buildings ; the most per- 

 fect of these is a great square erection, with 



