but decidedly original, and therefore worthy of re

mark.

DEIR ZEITA, about an hour north-east of Arshin, has the remains of a large Church, of which the north wall was entire, and the lower part of an apse of noble proportions. This Church was connected, towards the west, by a paved court, with an octagonal building, which may have been a baptistery.

KOKANAYA, about one hour and a half north of Deir Zeita, is a large heap of ruins, with two wide streets, very well defined, leading to the principal gate; great part of which is still preserved. The only Church we saw was small and insignificant for so important a town. A dated sepulchral inscription, however, is deserving of notice, for its eloquent simplicity. It is carved in the rock over a semicircular loculus, in a subterranean tomb :

+ EYCEBIW + XPICTIANW + ΔΟΞΑΠΑΤΡΙΚΑΙΥΙΩΚΑΙΑΓΙΟ ΠΝΕΥ TIETOYCZIYMHNIAWOYKZ i.e. Aug. 27, 369.

DOWAR is twenty minutes distant south-east of Kokanaya, across a valley; and ten minutes east of that Kusr-el-Benát, probably a nunnery; and ten minutes east of that the large remains of Bakousa, with a noble Church, situated on a hill, the apse which, and the north wall, are in excellent preservation. It is of the usual type, and presents nothing remarkable except its very superior and massive masonry.

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BAHAKU. KULB LOUZEH. KUSR EL-BENÂT.

Proceeding northward by the modern village of Maaret esh-Shilf we come to another village named Sardin, above which rises a hill surmounted by a ruined site and church named Bahaku, but formerly -the inhabitants told us-Milich. Here the Church presents the rare exception of a square east end, both in its external and internal plan. On the top of the same range of hills, and at no great distance to the north, is Kulb Louzeh, commanding a fine view of the Lake of Antioch and all the surrounding country. Here is a grand Church, in a remarkably perfect state, even to the vault over the noble apse. It was dedicated to the Archangels, as is indicated by their names over the easternmost door on the south side + MIXAHARABP...This Church is divided into three bays by massive square piers, supporting roundheaded arches of very wide span. The faces of these arches are carved with bands of rich mouldings, but that of the apse is most profusely ornamented. The wall-space above the arches is pierced with twelve clerestory windows.

Leaving now a large number of ruined sites unexplored, I proceed to the most important of all these Ecclesiastical remains, when I have briefly noticed an ancient nunnery which I visited at the special request of the Count de Vogüé, as he had not had time to do so. This is Kusr el-Benat, on the old Roman road between Aleppo and Antioch, which is here very well defined; but is not that now usually

followed.

The ruins are situated at the west end of

a pass cut through the rock, and are very extensive. The Church, however, is a complete ruin, with the exception of the lower part of the apse, which was carved in the live rock, and some few courses of stone above it. The convent stood on the north side of the Church, and formed three sides of an irregular quadrangle. The building was three stories high, and the massive character of the masonry gives it an imposing appearance, as in many parts the façade remains entire. In the court stands a tower still six stories high, although from the present appearance of the summit, as well as from the débris at the base, it would seem to have been carried higher. This is probably of later date than the Church and Convent; added, perhaps, when the buildings were converted into a fortress, as its name intimates that it was, probably during the time of the Crusades.

TOURMANIN is situated at the southern base of Jebel Simân, and through it lies the road from Antioch to Aleppo, now usually followed. Here is a noble building, which seems formerly to have served as a caravanserai; but its architecture claims for it a date anterior to the Mohammedan occupation of Syria.

We probably have in it an example of the guesthouses (evodoxeîa) of which we read e. g. in Procopius's account of the buildings of Justinian, which

were built on a very large scale, particularly at places of pilgrimage; and as Tourmanin must have been always the junction-so to speak-on the main line of commerce, for pilgrims to the shrine of the popular saint, this building was erected for their accommodation. It is indeed called Deir-i. e. Convent, but this name does not necessarily imply that it was a religious house. It consisted of a large hall, with other buildings and offices attached to it; well supplied with cisterns for rain-water, formed in the rock out of which the stones for the buildings were quarried, a method very usually adopted in this country for economising both labour and materials But here a sad disappointment awaited us. One of the most imposing churches in Count de Vogue's collection of drawings was that of Tourmanin, the façade of which was complete only three years before our visit. Now, not a vestige of that stately elevation was to be seen, and the explanation of the utter ruin which had been wrought in so short a time was to be found in the fresh chips of stone around the spot; indicating that the Church had been converted into a quarry for the citizens of Aleppo; from which it is some six miles distant. And thus these noble monuments of ancient Christian piety, which have resisted the shocks of earthquake and tempest for fourteen hundred years, are disappearing under the axes and hammers of modern civilization.

CHURCH OF S. SYMEON STYLITES.

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KULAÁT ES-SIMÂN, is situated on the top of a hill of the same name, and is reached by a steep rocky path, in about two hours from Tourmanin. It is, even in its deep decay, a most imposing pile, and in its palmy days might vie with any ecclesiastical establishment of East or West for the extent and grandeur of its buildings, the ruins of which cover many acres. It consists of a large transeptal Church, built round an octagonal hypæethral court, in the centre of which once rose the pillar of S. Symeon of the Column; whose eccentric piety and devotion this Church was built to commemorate, very shortly after his death. And it is a happy fact for the ecclesiology of this building that we have preserved to us a particular description of it, by one who may have visited it only a few years after its erection; as may be inferred from the following facts. Symeon Stylites died under the Emperor Leo, while Martyrius was Bishop of Antioch, i.e. between 461 and 465. Evagrius Scholasticus was born A.D. 536, and he describes the Church precisely as it may be seen (in ruins) at this day. A very good idea may be formed of its general plan from a comparison with Ely Cathedral, which I refer to as an illustration in preference to any other transeptal Church, on account of its octagonal lantern, in which it resembles its Syrian prototype; except that we learn from Evagrius that the central court of Symeon Stylites was open to the heavens, with the column