Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 364, February 1846Various
History
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 364, February 1846
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
Zhitchka Jicha, where seven Servian kings of the Neman dynasty were
crowned, a door being broken in the wall for the entrance of each
monarch, and built up again on his departure: and here our traveller,
turning to the right, and ascending the course of the Ybar, struck
southwards into the highlands
The character of the mountains among which he now found himself, was
widely different from the picturesque oak forests of the Gutchevo range,
which he had traversed in the early part of his tour. "Tall cedars
replaced the oak and beech; the scanty herbage was covered with
hoar-frost; the clear brooks murmured chillingly down the unshaded
gullies; and a grand line of sterile peaks to the south showed me that I
was approaching the backbone of the Balkan. There is a total want of
arable land in this part of Servia, and the pasture is neither good nor
abundant; but the Ybar is the most celebrated stream in Servia for large
quantities of trout." Still ascending the steep mountain-paths, while
the scenery became wilder and wilder, they at length reached the convent
of Studenitza, one of the most ancient foundations in Servia, having
been built by Neman, the first monarch of the dynasty bearing his name,
who died in 1195. Like most monastic edifices in Servia, it is a
castellated building, with walls whose massive strength is well
calculated to resist an attack not supported by artillery; and, on
entering the wicket, Mr Paton was received "by a fat, feeble-voiced,
lymphatic-faced superior, leaning on a long staff"--from whom he could
get no other reply to all his inquiries than "_Blagodarim_, (I thank
you.") The magnificent church of white marble, one of the finest
specimens now existing of Byzantine architecture, was built in 1314 (as
an inscription imports) by Stephen Vrosh; but it had suffered severely
at different times from the bigotry of the Turks. "The curiously twisted
pillars of the outer door were sadly chipped, while noseless angels, and
fearfully mutilated lions, guarded the inner portal. Passing through a
vestibule, we saw the remains of the font, which must have been
magnificent; and, covered with a cupola, the stumps of the white marble
columns which support it are still visible. Entering the church, I saw
on the right the tomb of St Simeon, the sainted king of Servia; beside
it hung his banner with the half-moon on it, the insigni_um_(!) of the
South Slavonic nation from the dawn of heraldry; and near the altar was
the body of his son, St Stephen, the patron saint of Servia." Another
day's journey through the same rugged and sterile scenery, in a
direction due south, during which they passed the Demir-kapu, on Iron
Gate, on the bank of the Ybar, where there is only room for a single led
horse in a passage cut through the rock, brought them to the quarantine
station on the river Raska, two hours' distance from Novibazar in
Bosnia, which it was Mr Paton's intention to visit, attended by a
Servian quarantine officer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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