270 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE. 



The arena, which is one hundred and fifty 

 feet in diameter, massive and vaulted, is the 

 only part built. The hollow in the mountain 

 side formed the cavea, and the projecting ledges 

 of rocks, the more prominent of which are 

 hewn into rude seats, served to support the 

 spectators. It was probably a place of exhibi- 

 tion for combats of animals ; in front of it is a 

 perennial source of water, rising in a small 

 circular basin, and rendering the neighbouring 

 stream independent of the supplies brought by 

 the mountain torrents, which become exhausted 

 during the dry season. On the summit of the 

 acropolis hill are cisterns, the remains of a 

 Christian church, and many walls of contempo- 

 raneous architecture. On the sides are several 

 sarcophagi like those below, some of them 

 curiously placed in niches hollowed out in the 

 rock. Piles of small stones cover the surface 

 of the hill where there are no buildings. It is 

 possible that these are the remains of the houses 

 of the ancient inhabitants ; at the present day 

 the walls of the houses, often of large size, in 

 the highlands of Lycia are constructed of alter- 

 nate layers of earth or sods, and small stones ; 

 and as heaps of small stones abound at all the 



