We Will Now Return To The Place From Which The First Of The
Sketches On P. 95 Was Taken, And
Proceed to the sanctuary itself.
Passing the small but very massive circular ruin shown on the right
hand of the
Sketch, about which nothing whatever is known either as
regards its date or object, we ascend by a gentle incline to the
outer gate of the sanctuary. The battered plates of iron that
cover the wooden doors are marked with many a bullet. Then we keep
under cover for a short space, after which we find ourselves at the
foot of a long flight of steps. Close by there is a little terrace
with a wall round it, where one can stand and enjoy a view over the
valley of the Dora to Turin.
Having ascended the steps, we are at the main entrance to the
building - a massive Lombard doorway, evidently the original one.
In the space above the door there have been two frescoes, an
earlier and a later one, one painted over the other, but nothing
now remains save the signature of the second painter, signed in
Gothic characters. On entering, more steps must be at once
climbed, and then the staircase turns at right angles and tends
towards the rock.
At the head of the flight shown p. 98, the natural rock appears.
The arch above it forms a recess filled with desiccated corpses.
The great pier to the left, and, indeed, all the masonry that can
be seen, has no other object than to obtain space for, and to
support, the floor of the church itself. My drawing was taken from
about the level of the top of the archway through which the
building is entered. There comes in at this point a third small
staircase from behind; ascending this, one finds one's self in the
window above the door, from the balcony of which there is a
marvellous panorama. I took advantage of the window to measure the
thickness of the walls, and found them a little over seven feet
thick and built of massive granite blocks. The stones on the
inside are so sharp and clean cut that they look as if they were
not more than fifty years old. On the outside, the granite, hard
as it is, is much weathered, which, indeed, considering the exposed
situation, is hardly to be wondered at.
Here again how the wind must howl and whistle, and how the snow
must beat in winter! No one who has not seen snow falling during a
time when the thermometer is about at zero can know how searching a
thing it is. How softly would it not lie upon the skulls and
shoulders of the skeletons. Fancy a dull dark January afternoon's
twilight upon this staircase, after a heavy snow, when the soft
fleece clings to the walls, having drifted in through many an
opening. Or fancy a brilliant winter's moonlight, with the moon
falling upon the skeletons after snow.
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