scarcely inferior to that of Paros. The entire population does not exceed 12,000 at the present day, though five centuries before the Christian era, as we learn from Herodotus, Naxos could furnish 8000 heavy-armed soldiers, and therefore must have then contained (allowing for slaves, &c.) well-nigh 100,000. The inhabitants now all belong to the Greek Church, with the exception of 300 or 400 Latins, the descendants of settlers in the time of the Dukes. Many of these bear the names of the best houses of Venice; they have a Latin bishop, a Capuchin, and also a Lazarist convent; and live in a great measure apart from their orthodox neighbours. The capital, also called Naxos, occupies the site of the ancient city on the W. coast. Its white houses look gay and bright from the sea; but the streets are narrow, intricate, and filthy. The ducal palace, plundered by Barbarossa, is entirely in ruins. On a point of land, below the town, are the remains of a massive mole, constructed by Duke Marco Sanudo, and corresponding with an ancient mole projecting from the little rock of Paláti, which is separated from Naxos by a channel of the sea 50 yards across. Paláti received this modern name (Пaλárov, or palace) from the ruins of a temple of Bacchus, of which only the western portal now remains. The massive proportions have an appearance of remote antiquity. The portal consists simply of three huge marble slabs, two perpendicular, and one laid across, and frames, so to speak, a charming picture of the town and of part of the island. The antiquities of Naxos relate almost exclusively to the worship of Bacchus, and this god is generally represented on the Naxian coins and medals. So there is a fountain near the town named after Ariadne. The principal mountain is called Dia (vulgarly Zia), doubtless after the ancient name of the island: here is a curious Hellenic tower. Córonon, another hill, recalls to our recollection the nymph Coronis, who had charge of the nurture of the infant Bacchus. Perhaps the most remarkable curiosity in the whole island is the unfinished colossal statue, still lying in an ancient marble quarry near the northern extremity. It is roughly hewn, and 34 feet from the head to the feet. The tradition of the peasantry has always identified it with a statue of Apollo. S. of Naxos, and included in the same Eparchy with it and Paros, are several barren and rocky islets, such as Donussa, Keros, Mácares, Heracléa, Skinussa, &c. Traces of ancient buildings have been discovered on some of them, but they are now uninhabited except by a few shepherds and their flocks. 19. PAROS (PARO). Paros is about 36 miles in circumference. It is said to have been originally inhabited by Cretans, but was afterwards colonised by Ionians; it became so prosperous, even at a very early period, as to send out colonies to Thasos, and to Parium on the Propontis. In the first invasion of Greece by the generals of Darius, Paros submitted to the Persians, and after the battle of Marathon Miltiades attempted to reduce the island, but failed in his attempt, and received here a fatal wound, (Herod. vi. 133.) After the defeat of Xerxes Paros came under the supremacy of Athens, and shared the fate of the other Cyclades. It is rarely mentioned in subsequent history. It was the birth-place of the satirical poet Archilochus, the inventor of the Iambic verse. The scenery of Paros is picturesque ; the soil naturally fertile, but imperfectly cultivated, owing to the want of popu lation, which does not amount to more than 6000, resident in Parokia (Пago" xía), the capital, and in several vil. lages. Before the revolution Paros was more populous, but in 1823 and 1824 it was desolated by the plague. Both Parokia and Marmara, a village on the E. coast, are subject to intermittent fevers. The island consists of a single round mountain, sloping evenly down to the maritime plain, which surrounds it on every side. In good years there is a large exportation of wine, barley, and wheat; but there are no olives, and very few trees of any kind. The cattle But the especial curiosity of Paros are very numerous, principally sheep and goats, besides oxen and asses. The island possesses an excellent harbour at Naussa (Naouoca, from vaus, a ship, or, on account of the vicinity of a good fountain, from váw, to flow), and three others at Parokia, at Marmara, and at Drios, on the S.E. coast. Naussa was the chief station of the Russian fleet in 1770. are the famous quarries in Mount Marpessa; re-opened lately, after a long period of disuse under the Turkish government, on the memorable occasion of the entombment of one who was the emperor of a people warlike, ingenious, and volatile as the Athenians of old, and the rival in his achievements of the Macedonian conqueror,-re-opened in 1844 to supply Parian marble for the The approach to Parokia, which tomb of Napoleon the Great. Under the stands on the W. coast, near the site dome of the Invalides at Paris, of the ancient city, is very dangerous. "Stabunt et Parii lapides, spirantia signa." The harbour is adapted only for small The finest specimens of Grecian vessels. Ships are obliged to anchor sculpture, which have been preserved, outside of a chain of rocks, which are executed in Parian marble; such as border the coast. The town, though the Medicean Venus, the Dying Glanot large, nor presenting an appear-diator, the Antinous, &c. The quarries ance of opulence, has a pleasant aspect, consist of several excavations, all under as it consists of neat small houses, with terraced roofs, surrounded by gardens and vines on trellises. The church of "Our Lady of the Hundred Gates" (Ἡ Παναγία Εκατομτυλιανή) is a fine building, said to have been founded by the Empress Helena, but the number of portals implied by the name is a pious exaggeration. Although Parokia suffered much from the Russians in 1770, it possesses at this day some interesting remains of antiquity. About a mile to the S. of the church already mentioned was a temple of Esculapius, in the precincts of which a fountain, with ancient stonework, is still visible. Upon a rocky height on the seaside, in the centre of the town, are the ruins of a castle, constructed chiefly of marble from some ancient buildings on the same spot. N. of the castle is a ruinous The most important of the Arundel church of "Our Lady of the Cross" Marbles, now belonging to the Univer(H Пavayia Toυ Eraupou), which con- sity of Oxford, is the Greek Inscriptains the only perfect specimen of Hel- tion known by the name of the Parian lenic architecture on Paros, a semi- Chronicle, so called because it is supcircular apse of white marble. Frag-posed to have been made in the island mentary remains are very abundant. Half the cell of a temple, built of Parian marble, with an elegant Ionic frieze, is still standing; in the wall of an adjoining tower some pieces are inserted of a Doric cornice, with several rows of broken columns, and portions of an architrave. ground (not, as at Pentelicus, with a of Paros about B.C. 264. It contains a chronological account of the principal events in ancient Greek history down to that date, and the inscriptions have been printed in the Marmora Oxoniensia. Their authenticity has been questioned, but the general opinion of the learned is in their favour. The Arundel collection was formed during the early part of the seventeenth century by the then Earl of Arundel, who employed several persons to make purchases for him in the Levant. At his death, his extensive and valuable museum was dispersed; but one portion of it was presented to the University of Oxford in 1667 by one of his sons, and another portion in 1755 by the Countess Dowager of Pomfret, into whose possession they had come by inheritance. 20. OLIAROS (ANTIPARO). This island was at first colonised by the Phoenicians, but is rarely mentioned in history; indeed, those of the ancient writers whose works are still extant seem not to have been aware of the existence of the Grotto so famous in modern times. Antiparos is about 7 miles in length by about 3 miles in breadth, and is separated from the W. coast of Paros by a narrow strait, where there is depth for the largest vessels, though the port is navigable only for small craft. The island was formerly a great resort of pirates. It is now inhabited by about seventy families, who live in the Kastron, a village 1 mile from the sea, and support themselves chiefly by fishing. They also grow a little corn and wine. dexterity of his conductors, who precede and are ready to catch him if he falls. The caverns below present as fine a specimen of stalactitic formation as can be imagined; but the length of all that the eye can take in at once is only about 150 feet, the breadth 100, and the height 50; so they are not to be compared in grandeur or dimensions with the Caves of Adelsberg. But the roof, the floor, and the walls of a series of chambers, are invested with a dazzling incrustation as white as snow; columns 25 feet in length hang like icicles from above; others, with diameters equal to that of the mast of a first-rate ship of war, extend from the roof to the floor. Probably there are many chambers still unexplored. If this be the case, they would, when opened, appear in perfect splendour, unsullied by the smoke of torches and undefaced by the rude hands of visitors. Between the interstices of the stalactites the crystallisation of alabaster may be observed. A good supply of candles and torches, and specially some blue lights, are required for the due investigation of the grotto. The date of the discovery of this cavern in modern times is not ascertained, but it was first made generally known by the visit paid to it by M. de Nointel, ambassador from France to the Porte, who descended into it with a numerous cortège, at Christmas, 1673. On this occasion it was brilliantly illuminated, and high mass was celebrated on Christmas-day with great pomp in this magnificent subterranean temple. The smoke from the torches of succeeding visitors has somewhat impaired its once unrivalled brilliancy. The me From the village to the Grotto is an hour and a half on ass-back. The path crosses a small valley which separates the ridge on which Kastron is built from the principal mountain of the island. The celebrated cavern is on the southern side of this mountain, just above a cliff which borders the coast, facing Ios and Thera. The entrance is extremely picturesque, but the passage thence to the cavern is long, narrow, and in parts pre-morial which M. de Nointel left of his cipitous. The mode of descent is by celebration of mass is not much less ropes, which are either held by the defaced by the rapid increase of the islanders, or joined to a cable fastened stalagmitic surface than the Hellenic at the entrance round a stalactite pillar. inscription, which has been exposed on The constant humidity renders the slop- the outside of the cave for two thousand ing rocks, as well as the cord by which years longer to an obliterating action of the patient holds with both his hands, a different kind. The latter memorial so slippery, that, with all the caution was easily deciphered by Colonel Leake possible, it is necessary for him to trust in 1806. It is nothing more than a in a great measure to the strength and record of the names of persons who de scended into the grotto in ancient times, and who seem to have been as eager for this species of immortality as their modern successors. 21. SCYROS (SCYRO). The ancient inhabitants of Scyros are said to have been Pelasgians, Carians, and Dolopians. It is frequently mentioned in the stories of the mythical period. Here Thetis concealed her son Achilles in woman's attire among the daughters of Lycomedes, in the vain hope of saving him from the fate which awaited him under the walls of Troy. It was here also that Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, was brought up, and from this island he was taken by Ulysses to the Trojan war. According to another tradition, Scyros was conquered by Achilles in vengeance for the death of Theseus, who is said to have been treacherously hurled from its cliffs by Lycomedes, the king of the island. The bones of Theseus were discovered in Scyros by Cimon, after his conquest of the island in 476 B.C. (Thucyd. i. 98), and were conveyed to Athens, where they were preserved in the Theseum. From this time Seyros continued subject to Athens till the period of the Macedonian supremacy; and the Romans compelled the last Philip to restore it to Athens in 196 B.C. The island was celebrated in ancient times for its quarries of variegated marble, of which no traces are apparent at the present day. Scyros is the chief of the Northern Sporades, as the cluster of islands lying to the N.E. of Eubœa is called. It is divided into two parts, nearly equal, by a narrow isthmus, which lies between the Port Achilleion (a name evidently preserved by local tradition from very early times) on the E., and the Port Calamitza on the W. There is another natural harbour, of great size, on the S. coast, vulgarly called Trimpouchais (a corruption of "Tre Bocche "), from the three mouths formed by the two little isles, which protect the entrance. There is also anchorage for small vessels at Puria, 5 miles to the N. of the Port Achil r leion, where an islet shelters a low point terminating a plain, which extends southwards thence as far as the heights of the town of St. George ("Ayios Tswgyios). This plain, about 4 miles in extent, produces corn, wine, and figs; it is well watered, and the little valley above it is rich in oaks and planes and fruit trees, which present an appearance very different from that of the dry and naked Cyclades. The southern part of Scyros is uncultivated; it consists of high mountains, which are intersected by deep gullies, and are rugged and bare, except towards the summits, where they are clothed with oaks, firs, and beeches. The northern part is not so mountainous; all the hills bear corn and wine. Besides the plain adjacent to St. George there are two other fertile levels. The wheat of Scyros is equal to the best in the Egean. Wine, corn, wax, honey, oranges, lemons, and madder, are exported in large quantities. The island abounds in water, and affords pasture to a few oxen and numerous flocks of sheep and goats, many of which are exported annually. Traces of alluvial gold are said to have been discovered in the bed of one of the streams. Until within a recent period, the inhabitants of Scyros, amounting to about five hundred families, were congregated, for security from pirates, in the town of St. George, which covers the northern and western sides of a high rocky peak, which falls abruptly to the sea, on the N.E. coast. On the table summit of the rock, which crowns the town, are the ruins of a castle, enclosing some houses now deserted, and the celebrated monastery of St. George, which was in great repute for miracles in olden days. The castle was the site of the ancient city of Scyros, justly described by Homer as the lofty Scyros" (Il. i. 664) :διος ̓Αχιλλεὺς Σκῦρον ἑλῶν αἰπεῖαν, Ἐνυῆος πτολίεθρον. Remains of the Hellenic walls may be traced round the edge of the precipices, particularly at the northern end of the Castle. But the greater part of the ancient city was to the eastward, near 66 : : the sea. Starting from the remains of a large semicircular bastion, the wall is traced along the slope above the sea for some distance, as far as a round tower now in ruins about 50 yards beyond this are the remains of another tower; and from each of these a wall is traceable down the slope towards the sea. These walls were between 300 and 400 yards in length, and served, like the Long Walls" of Athens, and of other maritime cities, to protect the communication between the city and the port, which was probably sheltered by a mole. The circumference of the ancient city was barely 2 miles. The only noticeable relics of antiquity, besides those already mentioned, are a sepulchral stone in one of the churches, a cornice in a chapel in the gardens, and a large arched cistern near Calamitza. An ancient temple of Pallas stood on the shore, though vestiges of it are not easily discovered now: 80 Statius sings, "Palladi litorea celebrabat Scyros honorum Forte diem." The houses on Scyros, though flatroofed like those of the Cyclades, are very different in other respects, being generally of two stories, of which the lower one is built of stone, and the upper of wood. There are several islets lying to the W. of Scyros. Of these, the two largest are called Scyropulos, or Little Scyros (λos, properly "a colt," being commonly added to names as a diminutive); and Chamelonnesos, “ Low Island” (χάμηλος, νῆσος). or 22. Icos (CHILIODROMIA). There is considerable uncertainty about the ancient names of these northern Sporades. Chiliodromia (rà Xλdgória), which name Ross believes to be derived from some medieval proverb, alluding to the number of paths over its barren hills, has been supposed by some travellers to be the ancient Halonnesus, about which an oration is extant, attributed to Demosthenes, but more probably written by Hegesippus, relating to a dispute between Philip of Macedon and the Athenians. But the best au thorities among recent antiquaries pronounce it to be the ancient Icos. This theory agrees with a passage in Livy (xxxi. 45), where he speaks of a Roman sailing from Geræstos in Euboea, and arriving at Icos after passing Scyros ; and with passages in Seylax and other ancient authors. Mention is very rare in history of this unimportant, though comparatively large, island. Appian relates that Marc Antony adjudged the possession of it to Athens. The legendary grave of Peleus, the father of Achilles, is shown here. Chiliodromia abounds in wooded slopes. The population does not exceed some 50 families, all collected in one village, which stands on the southern extremity of the hills, near the sea. The position is naturally very strong; and the village is fortified by a wall, as an additional security against the pirates, formerly so troublesome. The houses are mean and irregularly built. The island abounds in rabbits; and there is a plentiful supply of fish. Some faint vestiges of the ancient city, which occupied the same situation as the modern village, and of Hellenic graves, have been discovered by Fiedler. There is a landing-place below the village on the south coast, and another on the north: there is also a large natural harbour, commodious and secure, well sheltered and affording anchorage for vessels of any size, between Chiliodromia and the smaller island now called Xeronísi (Dry Island), which lies on the W., and was anciently called Eudemia. The eastern part of this bay is called St. Demetrius (τοῦ ̔Αγίου Δημητρίου); the Western Basilika. Formerly a few houses stood on the eastern coast of Chiliodromia, but they have been destroyed by the pirates. There are several rocky islets E. and N. of Chiliodromia, wholly uninhabited except by a few Caloyers, aud occasionally by shepherds with their flocks. These are Pipéri (rò ég, peppercorn, so called from its shape): Jura (rà ruga-having the same modern name as Gyaros between Andros and Ceos), and Pelagonési (or Kupía Пavayia), &c. &c. |