The
one approach is for the ministers, ambassadors, etc., the other for
the royal family. With the exception of these two peristyles, the
whole building is very tasteless, and has not the least ornament;
the windows are in the ordinary form; and the high large walls
appear so naked, bare, and flat, that even the dazzling white of the
beautiful marble produces no effect; and it is only on a close
approach that it can be seen what a costly material has been
employed in the building.
I regretted having seen this palace, especially opposite to the
Acropolis, on a spot which has made its works of art as classic as
its heroes.
The palace is surrounded by a rather pretty though recently-formed
garden. In the front stand a few palms, which have been brought
from Syria, but they bear no fruit. The country is otherwise barren
and naked.
The marble of which this palace is built, as well as the temples and
other buildings on the Acropolis, is obtained from the quarries of
the neighbouring mountain, Pentelikon, where the quantity of this
beautiful stone is so great that whole towns might be built of it.
It was Sunday, and the weather was very fine, {335} to which I was
indebted for seeing all the fashionable world of Athens, and even
the Court, in the open promenade.
