. Across Asia Minor on foot . d any illusionson this score; the citadel never saved them frommassacre by Hulugu the Egyptian, or the more fellTimur. The citadel was, in fact, a Bastille, and instructure great as any ever built. It is said to resemble Edinburgh Castle seen fromthe west, but is on a greater scale. Some assert thatit is really built upon a hill so completely enclosed bymasonry that all signs of the rock have only ground for this idea is that under the castleare rock-hewn galleries; but the outer walls at leastowe nothing to natural elevation in making up astark he
. Across Asia Minor on foot . d any illusionson this score; the citadel never saved them frommassacre by Hulugu the Egyptian, or the more fellTimur. The citadel was, in fact, a Bastille, and instructure great as any ever built. It is said to resemble Edinburgh Castle seen fromthe west, but is on a greater scale. Some assert thatit is really built upon a hill so completely enclosed bymasonry that all signs of the rock have only ground for this idea is that under the castleare rock-hewn galleries; but the outer walls at leastowe nothing to natural elevation in making up astark height of a hundred and twenty feet. Enclos-ing them is a fosse with a sloping revetment ofsquared stones from the bed of the fosse to thebase of the towering walls. The whole edifice is sohuge in height and bulk that its true size is notappreciated until you make the outer circuit byfollowing the Plaza which extends around it outsidethe fosse; then, indeed, it is discovered that halfan hour has been occupied in steady 1- I INTERCOURSE WITH ENGLAND 425 The finest portion of all is the great entrance. Onthe outer side of the fosse is a square barbican towerlarge enough in itself, but here merely preliminaryto greater things. A wide flight of steps goes up tothis tower, passes through it, is carried on a massivearched bridge across the fosse, and rises fifty or sixtyfeet to a mighty square tower in which is set amajestic portal flanked by machicolated height and bulk are here, and seen in theheat and strong contrasts of light and shadow ofSyrian sun, as you stand gazing up at the toweringsteps and cavernous archway, you wonder just howmuch of it all has been derived from western invaders—how much really belongs after all to the universalNormans. Much, no doubt; the Crusaders and thelittle kingdoms and States they founded left theirmark in this part of the East; but the Saracens whobuilt here in imitation did better than those fromwhom they learnt the art
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