267 
of them as may satisfy those who have no other descrip. 
tions at hand. 
Quitting this vestibule, I entered a superb hall, the 
roof of which is supported by forty marble columns 
about fifteen feet high, with bases and capitals of the 
Corinthian order; but the proportion of the shafts struck 
me as belonging rather to the Doric. 
In this hall is a door upon the left, which communi- 
cates with the ward of the Roman monks; a second 
upon the right leads to that of the Armenians; and a 
third, which faces, opens to that of the Greeks. 
After having waited some time here, a Greek monk 
opened the door of his ward. I passed into another hall, 
at the extremity of which, upon the left, a staircase de- 
scends to a species of grotto, which is the sacred birth- 
place of Jesus Christ. 
Having reached the grotto, I saw upon the right an 
almost hemispherical niche in the wall. The monk my 
conductor assured me that it was the spot where Christ 
was born. I perceived on the left a small marble basin 
which it is said is the manger in which the virgin de- 
posited her son. There is an altar in front of this man- 
ger, with a fine picture representing the adoration of the 
Magian kings, who came it is said to this very place to 
offer their homage to the New-born. The manger and 
the birth-place are enriched with superb ornaments, and 
a great number of crystal and silver, lamps. I saw be- 
fore the manger a silver lamp in the form of a heart, 
which incloses the heart of a devout man, whose name 
(Antonio Camilo de Celis, I believe) is engraved upon 
it, with a fine Latin inscription, and the date of the 
year 1700. There is an endowment to keep this lamp 
perpetually burning. The grotto is of the form of a 
parallelogram. 
