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.
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