CURIOSITIES RESPECTING BUILDINGS, ETC.—(Continued.)

Temple of Diana at Ephesus—Laocoon—Babylon—Alhambra.

Temple of Diana, at Ephesus.—The chief ornament of Ephesus was the temple of Diana, built at the common charge of all the states in Asia, and, for its structure, size, and furniture, accounted among the wonders of the world. This great edifice was situated at the foot of a mountain, and at the head of a marsh; which place they chose, if we believe Pliny, as the least subject to earthquakes. This site doubled the charges; for they were obliged to be at a vast expense in making drains to convey the water that came down the hill into the morass and the Cayster. Philo Byzantius tells us, that in this work they used such a quantity of stone, as almost exhausted all the quarries in the country; and these drains, or vaults, are what the present inhabitants take for a labyrinth. To secure the foundations of the conduits or sewers, which were to bear a building of such prodigious weight, they laid beds of charcoal, says Pliny, well rammed, and upon them others of wood: Pliny says, four hundred years were spent in building this wonderful temple, by all Asia: others say, only two hundred and twenty. It was four hundred and twenty-five feet in length, and two hundred in breadth, supported by one hundred and twenty-seven marble pillars, seventy feet high, of which twenty-seven were most curiously carved, and the rest polished. These pillars were the works of so many kings, and the bas-reliefs of one were done by Scopas, the most famous sculptor of antiquity; the altar was almost wholly the work of Praxiteles. Cheiromocrates, who built the city of Alexandria, and offered to form Mount Athos into a statue of Alexandria, was the architect employed on this occasion.

The temple enjoyed the privilege of an asylum, which at first extended to a furlong, was afterwards enlarged by Mithridates to a bow-shot, and doubled by Marc Antony, so that it took in part of the city: but Tiberius, to put a stop to the many abuses and disorders that attended privileges of this kind, revoked them all, and declared that no man, guilty of any wicked or dishonest action, should escape justice, though he fled to the altar itself.

The priests who officiated in this temple were held in great esteem, and entrusted with the care of sacred virgins, or priestesses, but not till they were made eunuchs. They were called Estiatores and EssenÆ, had a particular diet, and were not allowed to go into any private house. They were maintained out of the profits accruing from the lake Selinusius, and another that fell into it; which must have been very considerable, since they erected a golden statue to one Artemidorus, who being sent to Rome, recovered them, after they had been seized by the farmers of the public revenues.

All the Ionians resorted yearly to Ephesus, with their wives and children, where they solemnized the festival of Diana with great pomp and magnificence, making on that occasion rich offerings to the goddess, and valuable presents to her priests.

The AsiarchÆ, mentioned by St. Luke, (Acts xix. 31,) were, according to Beza, priests who regulated the public sports annually performed at Ephesus, in honour of Diana; and were maintained with the collections during the sports, for all Asia flocked to see them.

The great Diana of the Ephesians, as she was styled by her blind adorers, was, according to Pliny, a small statue of ebony, made by one Canitia, though believed by the superstitious to have been sent down from heaven by Jupiter. This statue was first placed in a niche, which, as we are told, the Amazons caused to be made in the trunk of an elm. Such was the first rise of the veneration that was paid to Diana in this place. In process of time the veneration for the goddess daily increasing among the inhabitants of Asia, a most stately and magnificent temple was built near the place where the elm stood, and the statue of the goddess placed in it. This was the first temple and was not quite so sumptuous as the second, though reckoned, as well as it, one of the wonders of the world.

The second temple of the great Diana, was remaining in the times of Pliny and Strabo; and is supposed to have been destroyed in the reign of Constantine, pursuant to the edict of that emperor, commanding all the temples of the heathens to be demolished:—the former was burnt the same day that Alexander was born, by one Erostratus, who owned on the rack, that the only thing which had prompted him to destroy so excellent a work, was the desire of transmitting his name to future ages. Whereupon the common council of Asia made a degree, forbidding any one to name him; but this prohibition served only to make his name the more memorable, such a remarkable extravagance, or rather madness, being taken notice of by all the historians who have written of those times. Alexander offered to rebuild the temple at his own expense, provided the Ephesians would agree to put his name on the front; but they received his offer in such a manner as prevented the resentment of that vain prince, telling him, “it was not fit that one god should build a temple to another.” The pillars, and other materials, that had been saved out of the flames, were sold, with the jewels of the Ephesian women, who on that occasion willingly parted with them; and the sum thus raised served for the carrying on of the work till other contributions came in, which, in a short time, amounted to an immense treasure. This is the temple which Strabo, Pliny, and other Roman writers, speak of. It stood between the city and the port, and was built, or rather finished, as Livy tells us, in the reign of king Servius. Of this wonderful structure there is nothing at present remaining but some ruins, and a few broken pillars, forty feet long, and seven in diameter.

Another curious monument of antiquity, which demands the reader’s attention, is, Laocoon.—This is a celebrated monument of Greek sculpture, exhibited in marble, by Polydorus, Athenodorus, and Agesander, the three famous artists of Rhodes. This relic of antiquity was found at Rome, among the ruins of the palace of Titus, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, under the pontificate of Julius II. and since deposited in the Farnese palace. Laocoon is represented with his two sons, with two hideous serpents clinging round his body, gnawing it, and injecting their poison. Virgil has given us a beautiful description of the fact, Æn. lib. ii. 201-222.

This statue exhibits the most astonishing dignity and tranquillity of mind, in the midst of the most excruciating torments. Pliny says of it, that it is, opus omnibus picturÆ et statuariÆ artis prÆferendum.—Lib. xxxvi. c. 5. “The Laocoon (Dr. Giles observes) may be regarded as the triumph of Grecian sculpture; since bodily pain, the grossest and most ungovernable of all our passions, and that pain united with anguish and torture of mind, are yet expressed with such propriety and dignity, as afford lessons of fortitude superior to any taught in the schools of philosophy. The horrible shriek which Virgil’s Laocoon emits, is a proper circumstance for poetry; but the expression of this shriek would have totally degraded the statue. It is softened, therefore, into a patient sigh, with eyes turned to heaven in search of relief. The intolerable agony of suffering nature is represented in the lower part, and particularly the extremity of the body; but the manly breast struggles against calamity. The contention is still more plainly perceived in his furrowed forehead; and his languishing paternal eye demands assistance, less for himself than for his miserable children, who look up to him for help.”—Hist. of Greece, ii. 177.

The Laocoon was sent to Paris by Bonaparte, in 1797.

Babylon.—The following account of this city, in its greatest splendour, is borrowed principally from Herodotus, who had been on the spot, and is the oldest author who has treated of the subject.

The city of Babylon was square, being a hundred and twenty furlongs, that is, fifteen miles, or five leagues, every way; and the whole circuit of it was four hundred and eighty furlongs, or twenty leagues. The walls were built with large bricks, cemented with bitumen, a thick glutinous fluid, which rises out of the earth in the neighbouring country, and which binds stronger than mortar, and becomes harder than brick itself. These walls were eighty-seven feet thick, and three hundred and fifty high. Those who mention them as only fifty cubits high, refer to their condition after Darius, son of Hystaspes, had commanded them to be reduced to that height, to punish a rebellion of the Babylonians.

The city was encompassed with a vast ditch, which was filled with water, and the sides of which were built up with brick-work. The earth which was dug out, was used in making bricks for the walls of the city; so that the depth and width of the ditch may be estimated by the extreme height and thickness of the walls. There were a hundred gates to the city, twenty-five on each of the four sides. These gates, with their posts, &c. were all of brass. Between every two gates were three towers, raised ten feet above the walls, where necessary; for the city being encompassed in several places with marshes, which defended the approach to it, those parts stood in no need of towers.A street corresponded with each gate; so that there were fifty streets, which cut one another at right angles, and each of which was fifteen miles in length, and one hundred and fifty-one feet in width. Four other streets, which had houses on one side, and the ramparts on the other, encompassed the whole city, and were each of them two hundred feet wide. By the streets crossing each other, the whole city was divided into six hundred and seventy-six squares, each of which was four furlongs and a half on every side, and two miles and a quarter in circuit. The houses of these squares were three or four stories high, and their fronts were embellished; and the inner space was filled with courts and gardens.

The city was divided into two parts by the Euphrates, which ran from north to south. A bridge of admirable structure, about a furlong in length, and sixty feet in width, formed the communication across the river; and at the two extremities of this bridge were two palaces on the east, and the new palace on the west side of the river. The Temple of Belus, which stood near the old palace, occupied one entire square. The city was situated in a vast plain, the soil of which was extremely fat and fruitful.

To people this immense city, Nebuchadnezzar transplanted hither an infinite number of captives, from the many nations that he subdued. It would appear, however, that the whole of it was never inhabited.

The famous Hanging Gardens, which adorned the palace in Babylon, were ranked among the wonders of the world. They contained four hundred feet square, and were composed of several large terraces; and the platform of the highest terrace was equal in height to the walls of Babylon, that is, three hundred and fifty feet. The assent from terrace to terrace was by steps ten feet wide. The whole mass was supported by large vaults, built upon each other, and strengthened by a wall twenty-two feet thick. The tops of these arches were covered with stones, rushes and bitumen, and plates of lead, to prevent leakage. The depth of earth was so great, that in it the largest trees might take root. Here was every thing that could please the sight; as, large trees, flowers, plants, and shrubs. Upon the highest terrace was a reservoir, supplied with water from the river.

The predictions of the prophets against Babylon, gradually received their accomplishment. Berosus relates, that Cyrus, having taken this city, demolished its walls, lest the inhabitants should revolt. Darius, son of Hystaspes, destroyed the gates, &c. Alexander the Great intended to rebuild it, but was prevented by death from accomplishing his design. Seleucus Nicator built Seleucia on the Tigris, and this city insensibly deprived Babylon of its inhabitants. Strabo assures us, that under Augustus, Babylon was almost forsaken; and that it was no longer any thing more than a great desert. St. Jerome relates, on the testimony of a monk who dwelt at Jerusalem, that in his time, Babylon and its ancient precincts were converted into a great park, in which the kings of Persia were accustomed to hunt.

A German traveller, named Rauwolf, who in 1574 passed through the place where Babylon formerly stood, speaks of its ruins as follows: “The village of Elugo now stands where Babylon of Chaldea was formerly situated. The harbour is distant from it a quarter of a league, and people go on shore to proceed by land to the celebrated city of Bagdad, which is distant a journey of a day and a half eastward, on the Tigris. The soil is so dry and barren, that they cannot till it; and so naked, that I could scarcely believe, that this powerful city, once the most stately and renowned in all the world, and situated in the most fruitful country of Shinar, could ever have stood in this place. My doubts, however, on this point, were removed, by the situation, and by many antiquities of great beauty, which are still to be seen, and particularly by the old bridge over the Euphrates, of which some piles and arches of brick remain, so strong as to excite admiration. The whole front of the village of Elugo is the hill upon which the castle stood; and the ruins of its fortifications, though demolished and uninhabited, are still visible. Behind, and at a small distance beyond, was the tower of Babylon, which is still to be seen, and is half a league in diameter. It is, however, so ruinous, so low, and so full of venomous creatures, which lodge in holes made by them in the rubbish, that no one dares approach nearer to it than within half a league, except during two months in winter, when these animals never leave their holes. In particular, one sort, which the inhabitants of the country call eglo, possesses a very active poison, and is larger than our lizard.”

We shall close this chapter with a full description of an ancient fortress called Alhambra.

This place was the residence of the Moorish monarchs of Grenada. It derives its name from the red colour of the materials with which it was originally built, Alhambra signifying a red house. It appears to a traveller as huge a heap of ugly buildings as can well be seen, all huddled together, seemingly without the least intention of forming one habitation out of them. The walls are entirely unornamented, consisting chiefly of gravel and pebbles, daubed over with plaster in a very coarse manner: yet this was the palace of the Moorish kings of Grenada, and it is indisputably the most curious place that exists in Spain, perhaps in the world. In many countries may be seen excellent modern, as well as ancient architecture, both entire and in ruins; but nothing to be met with any where else, can convey an idea of this edifice, except the decorations of an opera, or the tales of the genii.

Passing round the corner of the emperor’s palace, one is admitted at a plain unornamented door in a corner. “On my first visit, (says Mr. Swinburne, in his Travels in Spain,) I confess I was struck with amazement, as I stepped over the threshold, to find myself on a sudden transported into a species of fairy land. The first place you come to is the court called the Communa, or Delmesucar, that is, the common baths; an oblong square, with a deep bason of clear water in the middle; two flights of marble steps leading down to the bottom; on each side a parterre of flowers, and a row of orange trees. Round the court runs a peristyle paved with marble; the arches bear upon very slight pillars, in proportions and style different from all the regular orders of architecture. The ceilings and walls are incrusted with fretwork in stucco, so minute and intricate, that the most patient draughtsman would find it difficult to follow it, unless he made himself master of the general plan. This would facilitate the operation exceedingly; for all this work is frequently and regularly repeated at certain distances, and has been executed by means of square moulds applied successively, and the parts joined together with the utmost nicety. In every division are Arabic sentences of different lengths, most of them expressive of the following meanings; ‘There is no conqueror but God;’ or, ‘Obedience and honour to our lord Abouabdoula.’ The ceilings are gilt or painted, and time has caused no diminution in the freshness of their colours, though constantly exposed to the air. The lower part of the wall is mosaic, disposed in fantastic knots and festoons. The porches at the end are more like grotto-work than any thing else to which they can be compared. That on the right hand opens into an octagon vault, under the emperor’s palace, and forms a perfect whispering gallery, meant to be a communication between the offices of both houses. Opposite to the door of the Communa through which you enter, is another leading into the Quarto de los leones, or apartment of the lions, which is an oblong court, one hundred feet in length, and fifty in breadth, environed with a colonnade, seven feet broad on the sides, and ten at the end. Two porticos or cabinets, about fifteen feet square, project into the court at the two extremities. The square is covered with coloured tiles; the colonnade, with white marble. The walls are covered, five feet up from the ground, with blue and yellow tiles, disposed chequerwise. Above and below is a border of small escutcheons, enamelled blue and gold, with an Arabic motto on a bend, signifying, “No conqueror but God.” The columns that support the roof and gallery are of white marble, very slender, and fantastically adorned. They are nine feet high, including base and capital, and eight and a half inches diameter. They are very irregularly placed; sometimes singly, at others, in groups of three, but more frequently two together. The width of the horse-shoe arches above them, is four feet two inches for the large ones, and three for the smaller. The ceiling of the portico is finished in a much finer and more complicated manner than that of the Communa, and the stucco laid on the walls with inimitable delicacy; in the ceiling it is so artfully frosted and handled, as to exceed belief. The capitals are of various designs, though each design is repeated several times in the circumference of the court, but not the least attention has been paid to placing them regularly, or opposite to each other. Not the smallest representation of animal life can be discovered amidst the variety of foliages, grotesques, and strange ornaments. About each arch is a large square of arabesques, surrounded with a rim of characters, that are generally quotations from the Koran. Over the pillars is another square of delightful foliage work. Higher up is a wooden rim, or kind of cornice, as much enriched with carving as the stucco that covers the part underneath. Over this projects a roof of red tiles, the only thing that disfigures this beautiful square. This ugly covering is modern, put on by order of Mr. Wall, the late prime minister. In the centre of the court are twelve ill-made lions, muzzled, their fore parts smooth, their hind parts rough; which bear upon their backs an enormous bason, out of which a lesser rises. While the pipes were kept in good order, a great volume of water was thrown up, that, falling down into the basons, passed through the beasts, and issued out of their mouths into a large reservoir, where it communicated by channels with the jets d’eau in the apartments. This fountain is of white marble, embellished with many festoons and Arabic distichs, complimenting the monarch and his princess.

“Passing along the colonnade, and keeping on the south side, you come to a circular room, used by the men as a place for drinking coffee and forbets in. A fountain in the middle refreshed the apartment in summer. The form of this hall, the elegance of its cupola, the cheerful distribution of light from above, and the exquisite manner in which the stucco is designed, painted, and finished, exceed all powers of description. Every thing in it inspires the most pleasing voluptuous ideas; yet in this sweet retreat, they say, that Abouabdoula assembled the Abbencarrages, and caused their heads to be struck off into the fountain.

“Continuing your walk round, you are next brought to a couple of rooms at the head of the court, which are supposed to have been tribunals, or audience chambers.

“Opposite to the Sala de los Abbencarrages, is the entrance into the Torre de las dos Hermanas, or the tower of the Two Sisters; so named from two very beautiful pieces of marble laid as flags in the pavement. This gate exceeds all the rest in profusion of ornaments, and in the beauty of prospect which it affords through a range of apartments, where a multitude of arches terminate in a large window open to the country. In a gleam of sunshine, the variety of tints and lights thrown upon this enfilade, are uncommonly rich. The first hall is the concert-room, where the women sat; the musicians played above in four balconies. In the middle is a jet d’eau. The marble pavement is equal to the finest existing, for the size of the flags and evenness of the colour. The two sisters are slabs, that measure fifteen feet by seven and a half, without flaw or stain. The walls, up to a certain height, are mosaic, and above are divided into very neat compartments of stucco, all of one design, which is also followed in many of the adjacent halls and galleries. The ceiling is a fretted cove. To preserve this vaulted roof, as well as some of the other principal cupolas, the outward walls of the towers are raised ten feet above the top of the dome, and support another roof over all, by which means no damage can ever be caused by wet weather, or excessive heat and cold.

“From this hall you pass round the little myrtle garden of Lindarax, into an additional building made to the east end by Charles V. The rooms are small and low. His favourite motto, ‘Plus outrÈ,’ appears on every beam. This leads to a tower, projecting from the line of the north wall, call El Tocador, or the dressing-room of the sultana. It is a small square cabinet, in the middle of an open gallery, from which it received light by a door and three windows. The view is charming. In one corner is a large marble flag, drilled full of holes, through which the smoke of perfumes ascended from furnaces below; and here, it is presumed, the Moorish queen was wont to sit, to fumigate and sweeten her person. The emperor caused this pretty room to be painted with representations of his wars, and a great variety of grotesques, which appear to be copies, or at least imitations, of those in the lobby of the Vatican.

“From hence you go through a long passage to the hall of ambassadors, which is magnificently decorated with innumerable varieties of mosaics, and the mottos of all the kings of Grenada. This long narrow antichamber opens into the Communa on the left hand, and on the right into the great audience hall in the tower of Comares; a noble apartment, thirty-six feet square, thirty-six high up to the cornice, and eighteen from thence to the centre of the cupola. The walls on three sides are fifteen feet thick, on the other nine; the lower range of windows thirteen feet high. The wall is inlaid with mosaic of many colours, disposed in intricate knots, stars, and other figures. In every part, various Arabic sentences are repeated.

“Having completed the tour of the upper apartments, which are upon a level with the offices of the new palace, you descend to the lower floor, which consisted of bedchambers and summer rooms: the back stairs and passages, that facilitated the intercourse between them, are without number. The most remarkable room below is the king’s bedchamber, which communicated, by means of a gallery, with the upper story. The beds were placed in two alcoves, upon a raised pavement of blue and white tiles; but as it was repaired by Philip V. who passed some time here, it cannot be said how it may have been in former times. A fountain played in the middle, to refresh the apartment in hot weather.

“Behind the alcoves are small doors, that conduct you to the royal baths. These consist of one small closet, with marble cisterns for washing children, two rooms for grown-up persons, and vaults for boilers and furnaces, that supplied the baths with water, and the stoves with vapour. The troughs are formed of large slabs of white marble; the walls are ornamented with party-coloured earthenware, and light is admitted by holes in the ceiling. Hard by, is a whispering gallery, and a kind of gallery, said to have been made for the diversion of the women and children. One of the passages of communication is fenced off with a strong iron gate, and called the Prison of the Sultana; but it seems more probable that it was put up to prevent any body from climbing up into the women’s quarter.

“Under the council-room is a long slip, called the King’s Study: and adjoining to it are several vaults, said to be the place of burial of the royal family. In the year 1574, four sepulchres were opened, but, as they contained nothing but bones and ashes, were immediately closed again.”

This description of the Alhambra, concludes by observing how admirably every thing was planned and calculated for rendering this palace the most voluptuous of all retirements: what plentiful supplies of water were brought to refresh it in the hot months of summer; what a free circulation of air was contrived, by the judicious disposition of doors and windows; what shady gardens of aromatic trees; what noble views over the beautiful hills and fertile plains! No wonder the Moors regretted Granada; no wonder they still offer up prayers to God every Friday, for the recovery of this city, which they esteem a terrestrial paradise.