Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/283

Rh Hellenic building. From the size of this block, it may be inferred that it was not brought from a distance. An hour further is another old church,— Agios Georgios.

Apollona is pleasantly situated in a valley, with abundance of water and fruit-trees. It has an old castle, built by the Knights.

In the churchyard is a Greek inscription on a sepulchral cippus, and in the church I noticed several squared blocks of Hellenic masonry. In this village I purchased five Rhodian silver coins, with the radiated head of the Sun, one of which, for beauty and preservation, is superior to any of this type in the British Museum. While at Apollona I explored the adjacent villages of Platanià and Arkiboli, both picturesquely situated among the mountains. I found no antiquities in either of them.

We then went to Fundokli, distant one hour to the N.B. of Apollona. Our road crossed a mountain-ridge, on descending which the views en route were exceedingly picturesque, stretching over ravines and broken ground to the sea opposite Syme. Fundokli has a beautiful foimtain embosomed in plane-trees, and a ruined Byzantine monastery. In this part of the forest the pine timber is larger than that in the first part of our route. At the distance of a quarter of an hour from Fundokli is Demelia, where I found the ruins of a small castle, and an escutcheon of the Knights over the church door, but no antiquities.

From Demelià we went to Salakko, a pretty village at the foot of Mount Elias, through which a fresh