637 
Sparla, 
Cluglit to be related when you are treating 
of the birth-place of Lycurgus, of Agis, 
of Lysander, of Leonidas. Every body 
has seen Athens, bat very few travellers 
have penetrated as far as Sparta: none 
of them has completely described its 
ruins, and the very site of that renowned 
city is problematical. 
I should long since^have satisfied the 
reader, had I not, at the very moment 
when he espies me on the top ot the 
-castle of Misitra, been asking myself all 
the questions wdifch he has just put to 
According to Father Pacifico, Coro- 
nelli, the romancing Gulllet, and those 
who have followed them, Misitra is built 
on the ruins of Sparta; and, according to 
Spon, Vernon, the Abbe Fourmont, 
Leroi, and D’Anville, the ruins of Sparta 
are at a considerable distance from Mi¬ 
sitra ! Hence it is evident, that the best 
authorities adopt the latter opinion, 
D'Anviile in particular is precise, and 
seems to scout the contrary notion; 
“ The place,” says he, “ occupied by 
this city (Sparta) is called Palasochori, 
or the old town ; the new town, under 
the name of Misitra, which is erroneously 
confounded with Sparta, lies at a distance 
from it towards the w^est,” Spon, con¬ 
testing the point against La Guilletiere, 
makes use of expressions equally strong 
on tlie authority of Vernon and the Con¬ 
sul Giraud. The Abb6 Fourmont, who 
discovered so many inscriptions at Sparta 
could not be mistaken in regard to the 
site of that city : we have not indeed the 
result of his observations ; but Leroi, 
who recognised the theatre and the 
dromos, could not have been ignorant 
of the true situation of Sparta. The 
best geographical works, following these 
great authorities, have been careful to 
apprise tlie reader, that Misitra is by no 
means the ancient Laced®mon. I here 
are even some who fix with tolerable ac¬ 
curacy the distance between the two 
places, which they state to be about two 
leagues. 
Persuaded, tlierefore, by an error of 
my early studies, that Misitra was Spar¬ 
ta, I began with the excursion to Amy- 
cls, vvith a view to finish, first, with all 
that was not Lacedremon, so that I might 
afterwards bestow on the latter my'mndi- 
vided attention. Judge then of ray em®. 
barrassment, when, from the top of the 
castle of Misitra, 1 persisted in at¬ 
tempt to discover the city of Lycurgus, 
jn a town absolutely moden)^ whose ar¬ 
chitecture exhibited nothing but a con« 
fused mixture of tlie oriental manner, 
and of the Gothic, Greek, and Iialianj 
styles, without one poor little antique 
ruin to make amends. Had but ancient 
Sparla, like ancient Rome, raised her 
disfigured head from amidst these new 
and incongruous monuments I But no—> 
Sparta was overthrown in the dust* 
buried in the tomb of ages, troddeii un. 
der foot by Turks—dead, and not a ve3=> 
tige of her existence left behind i 
This Misitra, said I to the Cicerone, m 
Lacedffimon ; is it not ? 
Signor? Lacedtemon? What did you 
say?—rejoined he. 
Is not this Lacedaemon or Sparta? 
Sparta? Wftat do you mean? 
I ask you if Misitra is Sparta? 
I don’t understand you. 
What, you a Greek, you a Laceda?- 
moiiian, and not know the name of 
Sparta ? 
Sparta? Oh, yes! Great republics 
celebrated Lycurgus. 
Is Misitra then LacediBmon ? 
The Greek nodded in affirmation. I 
was overjoyed. 
Now, I resumed, explain to me what I 
see. What part of the town is that? I 
pointed at the sarne time to the quarter 
before me a little to the right. 
Mesochorion, answered he. 
That I know perfectly well; but wha| 
part of Lacedaemon was it ? 
Laceda3mon ? I don’t know, 
I was beside myself!! 
At least show me the river, cried I, 
and repeated : Potamos, Potamos. 
My Greek pointed to the stream called 
the Jews’ River. 
What! is that the Eurotas? TmpossI- 
ble ! Tell me where is the Vasiiipota® 
mos ? 
The Cicerone, after many gestures, 
pointed to the right towards Amyclae. 
Where, then, is Sparta ? Have I come 
so far without being able to discover it ? 
Must I return without beholding its 
ruins ? I was heartily vexed. As I wa* 
going down from the castle, the Greek 
exclaimed, “ Your lordship perhaps 
means Palasochori ?” At the mention of 
this name, I recollected the passage of 
D’Anville, and cried out in my turn 5 
“ Yes, Palffiocbnri ! The old city t 
Where is that? Where is Paiaeochori ? 
“ Yonder, at Magoula;” said the 
Cicerone, pointing to a white cottage with 
some trees about it, at a considerable 
distance in the valley. 
4 M g TesfS 
