The Obscurity May Appear
Strange, As The Balconies Were On The Outside, But The Eaves Of The Roof
At An
Angle of about 48 degrees projected some feet as a protection from
the winter's snow, and occasioned a darkness added
To the gloom of
blueish grey gneiss which formed the walls and the deep brownish red of
the tiled roof.
The great walnut-tree overshadowed a portion of the mule stables that
formed a continuation of the building, and faced the exterior courtyard,
which was inclosed upon two sides of the square, in the centre of which
was an arched entrance to the inner court. This doorway was beneath a
covered gallery, and the ground floor formed a well-protected verandah,
from which a magnificent view was commanded down the great gorge towards
Phyni, overlooking the lower mountain tops to a sea horizon beyond the
peninsula of Akrotiri and the salt lake of Limasol.
The covered gallery above this verandah was supported by stone pillars
with exceedingly rude capitals, upon which long beams of the native
pines, laid horizontally, supported the joists and floors. It was a dull
and dirty abode, and at first sight I was disappointed. The angle of the
mountain in which the monastery stood was formed by a ravine which
intercepted the principal gorge at almost a right angle, thus a path
which continued at the same level from the courtyard to the other side
of the ravine, represented the letter V laid horizontally. From the
walnut-tree across the broad base of the letter would be about a hundred
yards, to a series of cultivated terraces upon an equal level.
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