The Valley Is Open To The North, From Whence
Approaches The Road From Cairo; To The South, Close Behind The Convent,
It Is Shut Up By A Third Mountain, Less Steep Than The Others, Over
Which Passes The Road To Sherm.
The convent is an irregular quadrangle
of about one hundred and thirty paces, enclosed by high and solid walls
Built with blocks of granite, and fortified by several small towers.
While the French were in Egypt, a part of the east wall which had fallen
down was completely rebuilt by order of General Kleber, who sent workmen
here for that purpose. The upper part of the walls in the interior is
built of a mixture of granite-sand and gravel, cemented together by mud,
which has acquired great hardness.
The convent contains eight or ten small court-yards, some of which are
neatly laid out in beds of flowers and vegetables; a few date-trees and
cypresses also grow there, and great numbers of vines. The distribution
of the interior is very irregular, and could not be otherwise,
considering the slope upon which the building stands; but the whole is
very clean and neat. There are a great number of small rooms, in the
lower and upper stories, most of which are at present unoccupied. The
principal building in the interior is the great church, which, as well
as the convent, was built by the Emperor Justinian, but it has
subsequently undergone frequent repairs. The form of the church is an
oblong square, the roof is supported by a double row of fine granite
pillars, which have been covered with a coat of white plaster, perhaps
because the natural colour of the stone was not agreeeble to the monks,
who saw granite on every side of them. The capitals of the columns are
of different designs; several of them bear a resemblance to palm
branches, while others
[p.542] are a close but coarse imitation of the latest period of
Egyptian sculpture, such as is seen at Philae, and in several temples in
Nubia. The dome over the altar still remains as it was constructed by
Justinian, whose portrait, together with that of his wife Theodora, may
yet be distinguished on the dome, together with a large picture of the
transfiguration, in honour of which event the convent was erected. An
abundance of silver lamps, paintings, and portraits of saints adorn the
walls round the altar; among the latter is a saint Christopher, with a
dog’s head. The floor of the church is finely paved with slabs of
marble.
The church contains the coffin in which the bones of saint Catherine
were collected from the neighbouring mountain of St. Catherine, where
her corpse was transported after her death by the angels in the service
of the monks. The silver lid of a sarcophagus likewise attracts
attention; upon it is represented at full length the figure of the
empress Anne of Russia, who entertained the idea of being interred in
the sarcophagus, which she sent here; but the monks were disappointed of
this honour.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 359 of 453
Words from 187121 to 187635
of 236498
