In the Land of Temples Part 4

XXIII

STORM BEHIND THE ACROPOLIS

XXIII STORM BEHIND THE ACROPOLIS

AND when the clouds of a spring afternoon gather behind the Acropolis, you realise why it was built on that barren rock: because the builders saw it would be the most impressive shrine on this earth.

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XXIV

THE PROPYLAEA, ATHENS

XXIV THE PROPYLAEA; ATHENS

THIS is pure architecture; it interested me. I tried to draw it, as it looked to me; but no draughtsman--no painter, either--will ever get that wondrous warm glow which seems to come from within the walls and suffuse them with light and colour.

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XXV

THE PORTICO OF THE PARTHENON

XXV THE PORTICO OF THE PARTHENON

THIS is the greatest architectural art in the world.

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XXVI

THE PARTHENON FROM THE GATEWAY

XXVI THE PARTHENON FROM THE GATEWAY

DID these temples always grow out of the bare rock as now, or was the rock, too, overlaid with marble pavements? It must have been, for it is incredible that people with such a sense of beauty should have built such beautiful things on a stone pile.

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XXVII

THE FAcADE OF THE PARTHENON. SUNSET

XXVII THE FAcADE OF THE PARTHENON. SUNSET

JUST as the bell rings at sunset, from between a rift in the clouds of the spring evening the last ray of the setting sun strikes the pediment of the Parthenon. And against the black clouds over the mountains, it is transfigured, and then slowly one leaves--turning from the wonder of man's work to the wonder of G.o.d's sunset, and the wonder of the afterglow over Eleusis.

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XXVIII

THE FALLEN COLUMN, ATHENS

XXVIII THE FALLEN COLUMN, ATHENS

ON either side of the Parthenon the columns thrown down by the explosion of a powder magazine within, are lying, not as they fell, but each section carefully rolled into its proper place. The disorder at Olympia, when earthquakes destroyed the temples, is far more convincing and impressive, for there the columns lie in confusion, here in archaeological order.

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XXIX

THE LITTLE FeTE, ATHENS

XXIX THE LITTLE FeTE, ATHENS

A LITTLE fete of some sort was being held at the little church by the little river, and the way to it was lined with them that sold things; beyond was the rocky river-bed; then the Temple of Jupiter; and away above all, the Acropolis--framed in by the black trees, the most romantic subject I ever saw.

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x.x.x

THE GREAT FeTE, ATHENS

x.x.x THE GREAT FeTE, ATHENS