Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/76

43 most of his flock have returned into the bosom of the Greek Church.

The Chaldeans of Diarbekir number 120 families, with a bishop and three priests; there are also a few of the same rite in the adjoining villages of Tcarookhia and Ali Pasha. The old church, which was rebuilt twelve years ago, is enclosed within two courts, (in one of which is the episcopal residence,) and is a good substantial building. Like most of the other churches here, the nave is nearly square, and is divided into three aisles. The sanctuary is separated from the nave by a screen containing three arches, one in front of each of the three altars [that is, the Altar, properly so called, the Prothesis, and the Table in the Diaconicon] generally to be found in the Eastern churches. In the old Armenian church at Diarbekir there are no less than seven altars. A part of the nave is set apart for the female portion of the congregation, who are separated from the men by a partition of lattice-work. In the new Armenian Church more attention has been paid to ecclesiastical architecture. The three entrances, before which is a spacious portico, a deacon informed me were intended to represent the three cardinal virtues, repentance, faith, and obedience; the double row of four pillars, the four evangelists; the twelve lower painted windows, the number of the Apostles; and the twenty-four upper windows, the Prophets. A square railing in front of the principal altar serves for a sanctuary, and the font is generally placed near the prothesis.

We interchanged visits with Mutran Botros, the Chaldean Bishop, who was very polite to us, and readily answered all our questions. He is of Nestorian origin, and was sent to Borne when young, and educated at the Propaganda. Like most of the Chaldeans at Diarbekir who are descendants of the old Nestorians, he is a zealous supporter of the papacy, and it was once thought that he would have been raised to the patriarchate instead of Mutran Zeyya of Salamast. On inquiring whether he spoke French, he replied in the negative, giving as a reason that he happened to be at Bome just after Napoleon's retreat, and that the Italians were so prepossessed against any thingFrench, that he was not permitted to study their language. He informed me that the tombs of the Chaldean Patriarchs Joseph