OLD PLOVDIV

As far back as six thousand years ago Neolithic man appreciated the propitious combination of a fertile land, a large river and inaccessible hills in the heart of the Thracian plain.

Contemporary with Troy, Mycanea and the cities of Crete, Plovdiv grew into a proper town in the 12th century B.C. Ancient Greek writers attribute its foundation to Eumolpi – son of Haemus and Rhodope. The town was raised behind a fortress wall upon a cluster of hills – Nebet Tepe, Taxim Tepe and Jambaz Tepe. It adopted the name of its founder – Eu- molpiade. A succession of names followed through the centuries – Philippopolis, Pulpudeva, Trimontium, Puldin, Felibe and Plovdiv.

Cultural strata laid down by the centuries have been integrated in the appearance of the present day town. Antique, mediaeval and Revival Period monuments stand next to each other in striking architectural ensembles on the historic Three Hills. Old Plovdiv is a unique living organism built of archaeological remains, museums and excellent galleries, Revival buildings holidays bulgaria, functioning churches rich in frescoes, carved wooden ornamentation and religious articles, cozy cafes and restaurants, school buildings, old-time and new houses with romantic courtyards and picturesque cobbled alleys. In 1956 Old Plovdiv was declared an architectural- historical reserve and in 1979 it was awarded a gold European medal for its achievements in the preservation of historical monuments.

Nebet Tepe

Decades of archaeological excavations on Nebet Tepe have uncovered numerous significant remains from antiquity and the earliest settlement on the hills. Archaeologists have identified fortification walls from various stages of antiquity. In the southern part of the saddle between Jambaz and Taxim hills there have also survived parts of the impressive fortress walls of the Acropolis and the South Gate. Eleven years of archaeological work unearthed, just inside the fortress wall, the remains of an imposing antique theatre, which was successfully conserved and restored. Another remarkable building was discovered at the western foot of Taxim Tepe hill in the Jumaya Square. A restored section of Philippopolis’ antique stadium is displayed here nowadays. Nearby, to the south of the Three Hills are the remains of the large Roman city square – the forum (agora). Sections of the fortress wall running along the tops of the hills have also survived to our day. There are remains of the early Thracian and Hellenistic ages as well as repaired structures from the Roman and Byzantine periods.

Kleptouza and Velyuva Banya

Hotel-restaurant Zdravets, 2 stars, accommodating 200, tel. 26-82, large restaurant. There are two camp sites near the town — Kleptouza and Velyuva Banya.

Further along E-80, is Pazardjik (pop. 73,400), the centre of a rich and fertile region. Situated on both banks of River Maritsa. it was founded in 1485. The first inhabitants were Tartars who guarded the Big Market which was held here. Bulgarians settled here in the second half of the 16th century. There are mineral baths with water from the Rhodopes.

Sights:

Cathedral of the Virgin Mary is Pazardjik’s most important building. It was built in i 837 and is a magnificent example of National Revival architecture. It is made of pink stone and is known mostly for its walnut iconostasis by Debur wood carvers private tour istanbul. The oldest icon dates from 1814.

St Constantine and Elena Churcht Benkovski St. is the second largest church with icons painted by local artists.

Stanislav Dospevski Museum. 50, G.Dimitrov Blvd. is combined with the district art gallery. It was built in 1864 by Bratsigovo masters. Some of the walls are decorated with paintings by Stanislav Dospevski himself.

Kourshoum (Bullet) Mosque – BratyaMiladinovi St. built 1667, Pazardjik’s oldest building.

The Synagogue, Assen Zlatarov St. built 1850.1 he ceiling represents a carved sun, surrounded by round rosettes and interlacing geometrical figures.

Nikolaki Hristovich’s House, 8 Otets Paissi St. built 1850. Its architecture is similar to that of the baroque house in Plovdiv.

Kouzmov House, 5 Benkovski St., early 19th century, has very finely executed eaves. It is a two-storey building with bay windows.

Pozharov Home near the St Constantine and Elena Church in Benkovski St. also resembles the baroque house in Plovdiv.

Sakaliev House, 15 Trakiiska St. with carved ceilings.

Hadji Stoyanov house and the house of Konstantin Ve- lichkov, now a branch of the District History Museum, are also worth visiting.

Metodi Shatarov Monument-Ossuary is situated on an island in the River Maritsa in memory of Metodi Shatarov and other partisans who perished in 1941-1944.

Old Post Office with its Gothic tower.

The District History Museum, 5 Assen Zlatarov St., tel. 2-55-45.

The District Art Gallery ‘Stanislav Dospevski’, 1 lb 9 September St., tel. 2-5546.

The Drama Theatre, K. Veliehkov Blvd., tel. 2-75-35.

The Amateur Operetta Theatre — the Trade Union House of Culture.

Symphony Orchestra

Hotel Trakiya, 2 stars, 4-storey, in Red Square, accommodates 228, restaurant, coffee shop, night club, national restaurant and an exchange bureau. Tel. 2-60-06.

A small detour to the south of Pazardjik goes through several towns and villages active in the April 1876 uprising. After 20 km we reach the town of Peshtera (pop. 18 000), situated on both banks of Stara Reka river. It is well-known as a mountain resort but has rapidly developed recently as an industrial centre. In the town centre is an old poplar tree, whose circumference measures 10 m, 7 km east is the small village of Bratsigovo (pop. 6,000). Though small, its name is engraved in Bulgarian history. It was founded in the 16th century when Rhodope inhabitants, seeking refuge from forced convertion to Mohammedanism, settled in the small valley nestling in the folds of the mountain. The village developed quickly. Its inhabitants took an active part in the April 1876 Uprising, and from April 30 to May 5 they waged a fierce battle with the Bashibazouk and regular Turkish army.

Banya Bashi

Banya Bashi Djamiyaf 16th century, opposite the Central Supermarket, is a typical monument of Islamic civilization.

Small Churches: St. Nikolai Russian Church on Tzar Ka- loyan St., Church of St. Petka the Old at the comer ofStam- boliiski Boulevard and Tzar Kaloyan St. and the ( Lurch of St, Petka Samardjiyski in the subway of Lenin Square.

Modem monuments:

Liberators Monument in front of the National Assembly by the Italian sculptor Arnoldo Zocchi, in honour of the Russian troops who liberated Bulgaria from Ottoman domination.

The Alexander Nevsky Memorial Cathedral built in gratitude and respect for the Russian soldiers who died for Bulgaria’s liberation. There is a crypt with an exhibition of old icons.

Sofia. The Monument to Liberators

Sofia, the Sveta Sofia Church and the Alexander Nevsk

Memorial Cathedral

There are many other monuments to the fallen from World War II all over Sofia

The Banner of Peace monument is close to where the ring road crosses the road to Simeonovo district. It was built for the 1979 World Assembly Banner of Peace. It contains seven main bells symbolizing the seven continents, at its base are 20 musical bells, and around it are bells from all parts of the world.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is by the south wall of St. Sophia Church.

Museums: National History Museum, 2 Vitosha Blvd. in the Palace of Justice; Archaeological Museum, Alexander Stamboliiski Blvd.; Ethnographic Museum, Sept. 9th Square; Natural Science Museum, 1 Rousski Blvd.; Museum of the Revolutionary Movement in Bulgaria, 14 Rousski Blvd.; National Military History Museum, 23 Skobelev Blvd; Church History and Archaeological Museum, 19 Lenin Sq.; Museum of Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship, 4 Klement Gottwald Blvd.; Museum of the History of Sofia, 27 Exarch Yossif St.; Dimiter Blagoev Museum, Lajos Cossuth St.; Georg Dimitrov Museum66 Opulchenska Street; A lexandet StamboliiskiMuseum, 44 Sou- hodol Street; Ivan Vazov Museum, 10 Ivan Vazov Street; Pet- ko and Pencho Slaveikov Museumf 138 Rakovski Street; Peyo Yavorov Museum, 136 Rakovski Street; Hristo Smyrnemki Museum, 116 Emil Shekerdjiiski Siieet;Nikola VaptsarovMuseum, 37 Angel Kunchev Street.

Interesting buildings: The Lyudmila Zhivkova People’s Palace of Culture is the most impressive building in Sofia. It was designed by a team of architects under Alexander Barov daily sofia tour. The Palace covers an area of 17,000 square metres and has several halls, the largest with 7,500 seats.

The Palace of Justice, built 1932-1935 and designed by Pencho Koichev. The building has been reconstructed and now houses National History Museum. (The collections include important exhibits from pre-historic times, from Thrace, from the Middle Ages and from the National Revival Period) Other interesting buddings are the National Assembly, the Clement of Ohrid University, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the National Art Gallery, the National Ethnographic Museum, the Central House of the People’s Army, the Ministry of Defence, the Universiade Sports Hall, the Festival Hall, the Winter Palace of Sports, the Holy Synod Building, the Bulgarian National Bank, the Russian Church, St. Nicholas, the Cyril and Methodius National Library9 and many others.

Parks: Freedom Park, Hristo Smlmenski park (Western Park), Vladimir Zaimov Park, the Doctors’ Monument Park, and Southern Park south of the Lyudmila Zhivkova Palace of Culture.

Monumental sculpture

In aspect, planning, architecture and art, the cities of Moesia and Thrace were no different from those of the eastern Hellenistic provinces. Monumental sculpture, which was, in general, a form of art alien to the Thracians, became widespread towards the end of the 2nd century A. D. Excavations in towns and settlements constantly reveal pedestals of statues, and the statues themselves; they represent various deities both of the Graeco-Roman pantheon and of the cults of other countries and peoples, which invaded and rapidly spread throughout the two provinces, displacing the local Thracian cults to a large extent. One of the largest statues ever found, probably of Demeter,. 2.83 m. in height without its pedestal, came to light at Oescus years ago. The head and arms are lacking; they had been separately made and’ attached to the trunk.

The sculptor had treated the draperies of its clothing with great skill and lightness, not only clearly stressing the difference in the material of chiton and cloak, but also successfully modelling the forms of the body beneath its garments. The works of. the old Greek masters of the classical period of Greek art were particularly highly prized by the cities of Thrace and Moesia. A very fine copy of Praxiteles’s Eros came from Nicopolis ad Istrum. From the Roman camp at the village of Riben, Pleven district, comes a somewhat fragmentary copy of the statue of the Resting Satyr, also by Praxiteles guided istanbul tours. In the sphere of sculpture here too, as in the other Roman provinces, portrait sculpture developed extensively. It followed, on general lines, the development of this art in Rome and Italy. But here too certain nuances of provincial art are noticeable.

Roman busts

The museums of Bulgaria abound in Roman busts — portrait busts of the Emperors, which ornamented the public places and squares, portrait busts of eminent citizens, to whom statues were erected at the decision of the municipalities in gratitude for the services they had rendered their native cities. And lastly portrait sculpture was extensively used on the tombs. Among the numerous works of this nature the head of Gordian III (238—244), row in the Sofia Museum, deserves mention; it belonged to a bronze statue of this emperor, which stood in Niccpolis ad Istrum.

However, together with the great master sculptors, who worked in the workshops of the cities in the style of the official Roman-Hellenistic art, and whose vast output barely managed to satisfy the great needs of construction in the Roman cities, the workshops of the local masters were at work no less intensively in the villages around the local shrines; they had to satisfy the religious needs of the masses in connexion with the rites of the local cults and the cult of the dead.

The custom of consecrating stone tablets or statuettes with the images of the gods worshipped in the small village shrines, or of putting up monuments on tombs with symbolical imagery connected with the activity of the deceased, had penetrated the widest socialstrata under the influence of the Roman and Hellenistic religion. In the conventional images of the gods of the Roman and Greek pantheon, the Thracian population continued to worship its local gods with their specific Thracian names, among which the cult of the «Thracian Horseman» was particularly widespread. Thousands of votive tablets are preserved in the Bulgarian museums upon which the whole scale of the Thracians’ religion in this period is depicted.

SOFIA KARLOVOKAZANLUK MOUNT STOLETOV

SOFIA-KARLOVOKAZANLUK-MOUNT STOLETOV-SLIVEN BOURGAS SLUNCHEV BRYAG (398 km)

The route takes you through the sub-Balkan valley and the famous Valley of Roses to the sea. On your way you will see the attractive sub-Balkan towns and villages of Klissoura, Rozino, Karlovo, Sopot, Kalofer and Kazanluk. From here you can follow the road to the top of Mount Stoletov (in the north there is a side road leading to Kotel and Zheravna) and then on to Bourgas and Slunchev Bryag.

SOFIA PLOVDIV-ASSENOVGRAD PAMPOROVO-SMOLYAN (250 km)

The road passes through Ihtiman, Pazardjik, the second largest Bulgarian city of Plovdiv and then turns south to pass Assen’s fortress and the Bachkovo Monastery (29 km from Plovdiv), up to the modern mountain resort of Pamporovo. 15 km to the south is Smolyan, tucked away in a mountainous area of great scenic beauty. From Plovdiv you may continue via Stara Zagora to Bourgas.

VELIKO TURNOVO-OMOURTAG- TURGOVISHTE-SHOUMEN-PRESLAV- PUSKA- MADARA NOVI PAZAR- VARNA (240 km)

After enjoying the picturesque views in Veliko Turnovo, you set out for the major administrative and economic centre of Shoumen. From here you must without fail go to’Preslav and Pliska, as well as to Madara — a complex of old fortresses, remains of religious buildings and among them a unique rock relief, dating probably from the 9th century and representing a horseman with a lance, piercing a lioness.

SOFIA LOVECH VELIKO TURNOVO- GABROVO (260km)

From Sofia you cross the Balkan Range by the Botevgrad Pass, set out for Lovech, go across the famous covered bridge, the work of the Bulgarian master-builder Nikola Fichev tour bulgaria. Gabrovo was known in the past as Bulgaria’s Manchester. The historical reservations and museum villages Bozhentsi and Etur lie nearby. From here one can set out for Mount Stoletov and the Liberty Monument. Further on you come to Veliko Tur- novo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.

VARNA-DROUZHBA ZLATNI PYASSATSI- ALBENA-ROUSSALKA (80 km)

This route, in addition to the wonderful view of the sea, will enable you to see a number of historical and cultural monuments in Varna, Balchik and Kavarna, plus several modern seaside resorts.

VARNA SLUNCHEV BRYAG- BOURGAS- SOZOPOL PRIMORSKO (190 km)

From Varna, head for Slunchev Bryag and you will pass through several small resorts, such as Byala, the estuary of the Kamchiya River, Obzor, Banya, and further on, after Slunchev Bryag, you will arrive at the old little town of Nessebur. Then on to Pomorie, Bourgas and Sozopol (ancient ApoIIonia), and after that – Primorsko, which has become popular through the International Youth Resort Complex.

SEASIDE RESORTS BULGARIA

For many foreigners Bulgaria means scarcely more than her Black Sea coast. They may be right, though not quite, but let us not argue the point. What is more important is that this Black Sea coast was ‘discovered’ not very long ago by the Bulgarians themselves.

But first of all, let us say a few words about the Black Sea. It is one of the medium-sized seas — with a maximum length of 1,130 km, width of 611 km, and an area of 413,488 sq km. The salinity of its water is low (18 per thousand), but that is why its transparency is high – up to 16-20 m – at an average depth of 1,690 m. The temperature of the water in the summer months averages 23°C.

The Bulgarian stretch of the Black Sea coastline (378 km) is less indented than the eastern and southern parts, but boasts a more picturesque shore. The woody, softly descending slopes of the Balkan Range and the Strandja Mountains, the vineyards and orchards, as well as the other types of vegetation create such an abundance of verdure that many people rightly call this part of the country the Bulgarian Riviera. Almost along the entire coastline there is an unbroken strip of froe sand, and the sea is clean and shallow. We could not possibly imagine our seaside resorts – from the old and romantic fishermen’s settlements to the most modern resort complexes – without this greenery, without this sand and without this sea. Neither could we imagine them without their abundance of fruit, grapes and sparkling white wines.

But let us introduce you in a few words to some of the most important Bulgarian Black Sea resorts daily ephesus tours, starting out in the north.

ALBENA

The most recently opened resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is situated in a calm bay north of the Batova River. It welcomed its first guests in 1969. There are currently 35 lst- class hotels with some 10,000 beds, a camping site with 1,500 places and restaurants and night clubs for 10,000. The places of entertainment are situated aside from the hotels to ensure peace and quiet for the holidaymakers.

The water is clear and warm and the seabed is even, without holes and whirlpools.

For lovers of sport there are many volleyball, basketball and tennis courts, golf links, croquet pitches, bowling alleys, horses, bicycles, a sailing club and go-carts.

Next to Kardam Hotel there is a tailor’s shop for men’s and women’s clothes, a shoemaker’s and watchmaker’s shop and dry-cleaning and clothes pressing shop. At the entrance to the resort is the post office which is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The resort is some 30 km from Varna. A regular bus service links it with Varna, Zlatni Pyassatsi, Drouzhba, Toblukhin and Balchik. A six-seater cutter makes regular trips to Balchik, Kavama and Kaliakra.

The taxi stand is next to Slavyanka Hotel.

Exhibitions of works of leading Bulgarian painters, cartoonists and graphic artists are organized in the hotel lobbies.

A competition for ‘Miss Albena’ and ‘Miss Black Sea’ is organized here in the months of July and August.

At the resort there are several places of entertainment, with interesting floor shows and very good cooking.

The Zlaten Klas Tavern next to Or low Hotel is open from 11.0 a.m. to 12.00 p.m.

Dobroudja Tavern – in the trade centre of the resort. Open from 11.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m.

Ribarska Hizha Restaurant in the eastern part of the resort, by the sea. A variety of fish dishes are served.

The Old House Restaurant – in national Bulgarian style. A folk-instrument orchestra. Open from 6.00 p.m. to 12.00 p.m.

Gorski Tsar Night Club. Every night a varied concert programme. Situated in the western part of the resort and open from 9.00 p.m. to 4.00 a.m.

Arabella Night Club, in the eastern part of the resort, next to the beach. Open from 9.00 p.m. to 4.00 a.m.

Batova Picnic — 18 km away from the resort; delicious dishes served and a varied floor show. Open from 9.00 a.m. to 12.0 p.m.

Robinson – a place of entertainment near the town of Balchik. Interesting programme every day from 10.00 a.m. to 12.0 p.m.

In the shopping centre of the resort there is a wide range of leather, fur and ceramic articles, folk-style fabrics, perfumery, shoes, bathing suits and souvenirs. The grocery stores, the greengrocers and fruiterers, as well as the flower shops, are open from 9.00 to 12.00 a.m. and from 4.00 to 9.00 p.m.

The health clinic of the resort is next to Bratislava Hotel; tel. 20-25, 23-06. There is a pharmacy at Orlow Hotel.

Currency exchange – at Dorostol Hotel and in the shopping centre, tel. 23-71.

The bureau of the National Tourist Information Centre is in Bratislava Hotel, tel. 21-50.

The Museum Catalogue devotes

The Museum Catalogue devotes six volumes to the poet and his editors. All these thousands of works are entered under ‘ Shakspere’; though in about 95 per cent, of them the name is not so written. The editions of Dyce, Collier, Staunton, Halliwell-Phillipps, and Clark, which have Shakespeare on their title-pages, are lettered in the .binding Shakspere. Nay, the facsimile of the folio of 1623, where we not only read Shakespeare on the title-page, but laudatory verses addressed to ‘ Shake-speare ’ {sic’) is actually lettered in the binding (facsimile as it purports to be), Shakspere. We shall certainly end with ‘Shaxper.’

The claim of the palaeographists to re-name great men rests on a confusion of ideas. ‘ Shakespeare ’ is a word in the English language, just as ‘Tragedy’ is; and it is in vain to ask us, in the name of etymograpliy, to turn that name into Shakspere, as it would be to ask us, in the name of etymology, to turn ‘Tragedy ’ into Goat-song. The point is not, how did the poet spell his name — that is an antiquarian, not a literary matter, any more than how Homer or Moses spelled their names. Homer and Moses, as we know, could not possibly spell their names: since alpha-bets were not invented. And, as in a thousand cases, the exact orthography is not possible: the matter which concerns the public is the form of a name which has obtained currency in literature. When once any name has obtained that currency in a fixed and settled literature, it is more than pedantry to disturb it: it is an outrage on our language. And it is a serious hindrance to popular education to be ever unsettling familiar names.

If we are to re-edit Shakespeare’s name by strict revival of contemporary forms, we ought to alter the names of his plays as well. There is reason to think that Macbeth was Mcelbcethe. The twentieth century will go to see Shaxpers Mcelbathe performed on the stage. And so they will have to go through the cycle of the immortal plays. Hamlet was variously written Hamblet, Am leth, Hamnet, Hamle, and Hamlett; and every ‘ revival ’ of Hamlet will be given in a new name. Leirs daughters were properly Gonori/l, Ragan, and Cordila. If Shakspere’s own orthography is decisive, we must talk about the Midsummer Night’s Dreame, and Twelffe-Night, Henry Fift, and Clcopater, for so he wrote the titles himself. Under the exasperating revivalism of the palaeographic school all things are possible; and, in the next century private guide turkey, it will be the fashion to say that ‘the master-creations of Shaxper are undoubtedly Cordila, Hamblet, and Madbaethe.’ Goats and monkeys! can we bear this?

Revivalism rests upon

All this revivalism rests upon the delusion, that bits of ancient things can be crammed into the living organism of modern civilisation. Any rational historical culture must be subordinate to organic evolution; lumps of the past are not to be inserted into our ribs, or thrust down our throats like a horse drench. A brick or two from our father’s houses will not really testify how they built their homes; and exhuming the skeletons of their buried words may prove but a source of offence to the living. An actor who had undertaken the character of Othello once blacked himself all over the body, in order to enter more fully into the spirit of the part; but it is not recorded that he surpassed either Edmund Kean or Salvini. So we are told that there exists a company of enthusiastic Ann-ists, who meet in the dress of Addison and Pope, in boudoirs which Stella and Vanessa would recognise, and read copies of the old Spectator, reprinted in contemporary type.

In days when we are warned that the true feeling for high art is only to be acquired by the wearing of ruffles and velvet breeches, we shall soon be expected, when we go to a lecture on the early Britons, to stain our bodies all over with woad, in order to realise the sensations of our ancient ‘ forbears ’; and na one will pass in English history till he can sputter out all the guttural names in the Saxon Chronicle. Palaeography should keep to its place, in commentaries, glossaries, monographs, and the like. In English literature, the literary name of the greatest ruler of the West is Charlemagne; the literary name of the most perfect of kings is Alfred; and the literary name of the greatest of poets is Shakespeare. The entire world, and not England alone, has settled all this for centuries.

Constantinople must dominate the Balkan peninsula

Nor is this all. In the hands of a first-class military and naval power, Constantinople must dominate the Balkan peninsula and the whole of Greece. With an impregnable capital, and the powerful navy which the wonderful marine opportunities of Constantinople render an inevitable pos-session to any great power, the rival races and petty kingdoms of the peninsula would all alike become mere dependencies or provinces. Here, then, we reach the full limit of the possible issue. Turkey is now no longer a maritime power of any account. Her magnificent soldiery forms no longer a menace to any European power, however small; and, if it suffices to hold the lines of Constantinople on the Balkan side (which is not absolutely certain), it is liable at any moment to be paralysed by an enemy on the, flank who could command the Black Sea or the Sea of Marmora.

Of course, the Bosphorus has lost its ancient importance as a defence; for a northern invader command-ing the Black -Sea could easily descend on the heights above Pera, and with Pera in the hands of an enemy, Stamboul is now indefensible. That is to say, Constantinople is no longer impregnable, or even defensible, without a first-class fleet. Therefore neither Turkey, nor Bulgaria, nor Greece, nor any other small power, could have any but a precarious hold on it, in the absence of a very powerful fleet of some ally.

From these conditions the following consequences result. Turkey can hold Constantinople as her capital with absolute security against any minor power. She could not hold it against Russia having a predominant fleet in the Black Sea, unless she received by alliance the support of a powerful navy. With the support of a powerful fleet guided turkey tours, and her own reconstituted army and restored financial and administrative condition, she might hold Constantinople indefinitely against all the resources of Russia.

Placed in Stamboul

It is perfectly plain that no minor power, even if placed in Stamboul, could hold it except by sufferance; certainly neither Bulgaria, nor Greece, nor Servia, perhaps hardly Austria, unless she enormously developed her fleet, and transformed her entire empire. Turkey, as planted at present on the Bosphorus, is not a menace to any other power. The powers with which she is surrounded are intensely jealous of each other; and by race, religion, traditions, and aspirations, incapable of permanent amalgamation.

From the national and religious side the problem is most complex and menacing. Even in Constantinople the Moslems are a minority of the population; and still more decidedly so in the other European provinces. But in jnost of the Asiatic provinces, Moslems are a majority, and in almost all they are enormously superior in effective strength to any other single community. To put aside Syrians, Arabs, Egyptians, Jews, and other non-Christian populations, there are, within the more western parts of the Turkish Empire, Bulgarians, Greeks, Albanians, various Slavonian peoples, Armenians, and Levantine Catholics, not so very unequally balanced in effective force and national ambition; all intensely averse to submit to the control of any one amongst the rest, and unwilling to combine with each other. Each watches the other with jealousy, suspicion, antipathy, and insatiable desire to domineer.

Ancient cemetery of Cerameicus

There is one aspect of Attic art, and one of its most impressive types, which can be properly seen only in Athens itself. This is the monuments of the dead: of which many stand in the ancient cemetery of Cerameicus, and many are collected in the National Museum. In their pensive and exquisite pathos, in their reserve, in their dignity and human affection, in their manly simplicity— in frank, pure, social, and humane acceptance of death in all its pathos and all its solemnity, these Athenian monuments may be taken as the highest type of funeral emblems that the world possesses. They present an aspect of Death pensive, affectionate, social, peaceful, and beautiful. There is nothing of the ghastly and cruel symbolism of the Middle Ages, nothing of the stately and pompous mausoleums dear to Roman pride, nothing of the impersonal fatuity of our modern gravestones.

The family group is gathered to take its last farewell of the departing. He or she is not stretched on a bed or bier, not sleeping, not wasted by sickness, not ecstatically transfigured. They sit or recline in all their health and beauty, sweetly smiling, as a loved one who is about to take a distant voyage. The family grouped around are thoughtful, serious, not sad, loving and tender, but not overcome with grief; they too take a long farewell of the traveller about to depart. At his feet lies a favourite dog, some bird or cherished pet, and sometimes in an obscure corner a little slave may be seen howling for his master. But only slaves are allowed to weep. Sometimes the young warrior is mounted on his steed, sometimes is seen charging in the midst of battle. But, for the most part, all is ideal beauty, peace, and love.

Heraldic emblems

There is here no vain pomp, no arrogance of wealth and power, heraldic emblems, swords, coronets, and robes of state walking tours ephesus. Neither is there the horror or the ecstasy, the impossible angels, the grotesque demons, the skulls or the palm branches with which we moderns have been wont to bedizen our funeral monuments. It recalls to us our poet’s In Memoriam — a work too of calm and ideal art — towards the latest phase of the poet’s bereavement. It seems as if the sculptor spoke to us in the words of the late Laureate: —

‘ No longer caring to embalm

In dying songs a dead regret,

But like a statue solid set,

And moulded in colossal calm.’

Impressions — first impressions of Athens throng on the mind so closely and so vividly, that they are not easily reduced to order. A visit to Athens is worth the study of a hundred books, whether classical or recent. Any man who has sailed round Greece from the Ionian Sea to the Aigean, and up the Gulf of Corinth, and thence to that of Aigina and Eleusis, at once perceives that Greece was destined by nature to be, not so much the country of a settled nation, as the mere pied-a-terre of a wonderful race whose mission was to penetrate over the whole Mediterranean and its shores.

The Modern City

With all this, there was about the great cities of the Middle Ages a noble spirit of civic life and energy, an ever-present love of Art, a zeal for good work as good work, and a deep under-lying sense of social duty and personal faithfulness. A real and sacred bond held the master and his apprentices together, the master workman to his men, the craftsman to his gild-brethren, the gild- men in the mass as a great aggregate corporation. Each burgher’s house was his factory and workshop, each house, each parish, each gild, each town had its own patron saint, its own special church, its own feudal patron, its corporate life, its own privileges, traditions, and emblems.

Thus grew up for the whole range of the artificer’s life, for the civic life, for the commercial life, a profound sense of consecrated rule which amounted to a kind of religion of Industry, a sort of patriotism of Industry, an Art of Industry, the like of which has never existed before or since. It was in ideal and in aim (though alas! not often in fact) the highest form of secular life that human society has yet reached. It rested ultimately, though somewhat vaguely, on religious Duty. And it produced a sense of mutual obligation between master and man, employer and employed, old and young, rich and poor, wise and ignorant. To restore the place of this sense of social obligation in Industry, the world has been seeking and experimenting now for these four centuries past adventure balkan tours.

The Modern City

It is needless to describe the modern city: we all know what it is, some of us too well. The first great fact about the Modern City is that it is in a far lower stage of organic life. It is almost entirely bereft of any religious, patriotic, or artistic character as a whole. There is in modern cities a great deal of active religious life, much public spirit, in certain parts a love of beauty, taste, and cultivation of a special kind. But it is not embodied in the city; it is not associated with the city; it does not radiate from the city. The Modern City is ever changing, loose in its organization, casual in its form. It grows up, or extends suddenly, no man knows how, in a single generation — in America in a single decade. Its denizens come and go, pass on, changing every few years and even months. Few families have lived in the same city for three successive generations. An Athenian, Syracusan, Roman family had dwelt in their city for twenty generations.

A typical industrial city of modern times has no founder, no traditional heroes, no patrons or saints, no emblem, no .history, no definite circuit. In a century, it changes its population over and over again, and takes on two or three different forms. In ten or twenty years it evolves a vast new suburb, a mere wen of bricks or stone, with no god or demi-god for its founder, but a speculative builder, a syndi-cate or a railway. The speculative builder or the company want a quick return for their money. The new suburb is occupied by people who are so busy, and in such a hurry to get to work, that in taking a house, their sole inquiry is — how near is it to the station, or where the tram-car puts you down.