Travels in Southeastern Europe

The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.

3IQ THE BURDEN OF THE BALKANS. ably corruptions of the word 'Apollonia,' but Pojana is, judging by the remains found, the site of the old town, and Avlona a new port with the old name, made when the sea left Apollonia high and dry. (It should be noted that this was not the 'Apollonia' visited by St. Paul. That was a town not far from Salonika.) The monastery church is Byzantine. It is evidently of early date, but the people of the monastery could give me no history at all. At one time it has evidently been unroofed and partly destroyed, as the whole of the upper part is of later workmanship. It is built of stone. At the west end is a long open narthex, or porch, supported by a colonnade, the capitals of which are all grotesque beasts and bogies. The interior of the building is entirely whitewashed. Outside, the walls of both church and monastery are set with a quantity of classic fragments, many of them of great beauty. One little white marble Amazon kneeling to support a cornice is an admirable work, and with the exception of a lost foot and arm, as sharp-cut and perfect as when new. There are also a Medusa head in relief, some very good tomb reliefs, some inferior ones, and also some extraordinary and grotesque Byzantine reliefs, notably one of a goat grazing. Leaning against one of the doors of the church was the torso of what has been a draped male Roman portrait statue. The head, I was told cheerfully, had been knocked off and taken to a house in Avlona. Also it had hands a little while ago, but they are 'gone.' White and crystalline scars showed that
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Title
The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author
Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas
Page 310
Publication
London :: Nelson,
[1905]
Subject terms
Eastern question (Balkan)
Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

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"The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham." In the digital collection Travels in Southeastern Europe. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 30, 2025.
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