# Travels and Discoveries in the Levant/Volume 1/Letter ΧIV

Visit to Monastery of Zambika—The Archimandrite Nikandros—Costume of the Rhodian Peasant Women—Castle at Archangelo—Koskino—A Peasant's House—Lindos Ware
XIV.
Rhodes, May 4, 1853.
A Few days ago, I started with M. Ducci, the Russian Vice-Consid, to pay a visit to the monastery of Zambika, five hours distant from Rhodes, on the south coast of the island, where the inhabitants of the adjoining village of Archangelo were celebrating their Easter, called λαμπρή by the Greeks. On our arrival, we were ushered into a spacious courtyard full of peasants. In the middle of the crowd was the only ecclesiastic in the monastery, an old gentleman with a venerable beard, a long gown, a black cap, such as we see in pictures of the 15th century, and a staff in his hand. (See Plate 12.) He came forward and gave us a hospitable welcome, making
Plate 12.
THE ARCHIMANDRITE NIKANDROS
London. Published by Day & Son, Lith$^{rs}$ to the Queen. (LIMITED)
The Archimandrite Nikandros—who received us with this patriarchal salute—is a man who seems worthy of a less obscure position than he now occupies. He was educated by the celebrated Kairy, a priest, who had the boldness to attack the corruptions of the Greek Church, and who was rewarded, like all premature reformers, with a prison, in which he ended his days. Nikandros, though he has escaped the fate of his master, has, however, suffered much persecution from the Greek clergy; he kept a school at Scio, but gave it up because the Archbishop interfered with the teaching, and wished to exclude all the classical authors and to substitute the Fathers.
The monastery of Zambika, where Nikandros lives, is a lonely place where an anchorite might have dwelt; and the simplicity of his way of life is in perfect keeping with this secluded spot. The classical purity of his Greek forms a striking- contrast with the patois of the peasants round him : he has a small library of ancient authors, with which he appeared to be well acquainted. The monastery where Nikandros dwells, though now only tenanted by one monk—its Hegumenos, or prior—is a large building, serving, like the temple among the ancient Greeks, as a place of gathering, or panegyris, for the surrounding district. ​When we looked round the quadrangle, I saw a picturesque and curious scene. The whole population of several villages were gathered together in the open air, their mules picketed outside; each family provided with its own cooking apparatus. They were all dressed in the picturesque costume which is still to be met with in those islands of the Archipelago where the tasteless printed calicoes of Manchester have not yet superseded the native products of the spinning-wheel and the loom.
The Rhodian peasants, both male and female, wear snow-white dresses spun and woven by their own hands, from flax grown on their own soil. Nothing can be more beautiful than the effect of this white drapery in the strong sunlight, set off by the contrast of tawny weatherbeaten limbs and faces.
I was so struck with the costume of the women that I did nothing but fix my eyes upon them; whereat my friend, the Russian Vice-Consul, growing alarmed, told me to reserve my observations till they began to dance, when I might look on without being remarked, as he was afraid that the men might not understand the motive of my scrutiny. I was rather amused at this caution, for so far as personal beauty was concerned, I never beheld women less attractive. As soon as they saw me take out my note-book to describe the scene, they gathered round me, like minnows round a crumb of bread, and on every side I heard the cries of Τί γράφει,—"What is he writing?" When I ​explained that I was taking notes of their dresses, an aged crone stepped forward on behalf of her sex, and initiated me into the arcana of Rhodian toilette with a frankness which left nothing for the imagination.
A Rhodian contadina may be thus described: her head is covered with a Fez cap of red cloth; outside which a shawl is wound round the crown of the head; outside the shawl again a muslin veil hangs down from the back of the neck in true antique style, with an inner veil appearing underneath it. On the front of the head is a gold or silver ornament of a triangular form fastened to the shawl; in the centre is a large garnet, and from the base of the triangle hang ornaments, suspended by little chains. This kind of ornament is clearly of Byzantine origin.$^{80}$ So much for the head-dress.
With regard to the rest, the innermost garment is a shift, falling nearly to the ancles; then comes a garment without sleeves, reaching about half-way down the leg, under the skirt of which the edge of a pair of trousers is just visible. Over this is worn a jacket with sleeves. Round the waist is a girdle, loosely and gracefully tied, though I cannot say that it had any of the magic influence which Homer attributed to the cestus of Venus.
Quaint Turkish slippers, turned up at the toes, and clean white stockings complete this dress, in which, as in most things in the Archipelago, there is a mixture of classical and Turkish fashions.
​The general material was white cloth, edged with a border worked by the hand with patterns very like those of the old Greek borders. These borders were generally red and blue. One petticoat was sometimes of silk of a bright colour. The outer petticoat was gathered in at the waist, so as to be full of plaits, a fashion very usual in the early Greek sculpture. Down the side of this garment was a perpendicular stripe of embroidery, meeting the border of the skirt at right angles: this stripe, which occurs constantly in the costume of figures on Greek vases, was called by the ancients paruphe.
I next saw the people of Archangelo dance. The whole village, men and women, joined hand in hand and danced roimd a fiddler in the centre of an irregular crescent. The fiddle, still called λύρα, was of a most ancient form, such as is to be found on the very late Pagan and early Christian sarcophagi. It is played with a bow, from which hang little bells. The fiddler was a very curious figure, who accompanied his music with quaint contortions: like Tyrtæus, he was lame. The music was an incessant, monotonous repetition of the same tune, to which the feet of the whole chorus beat time with marvellous precision. The step was a very simple one,—two side steps, the left foot first, then the right foot advanced once; this simple movement repeated eternally. The only merit of the dance consists in the perfect regularity with which the corps de ballet is drilled. This dance is called Rhoditikos choros; but I am told that it is ​borrowed from Crete. Possibly it has been derived from one of those military dances for which the Cretans were celebrated in antiquity. "Within the regular hand-in-hand crescent of dancers one or two men appeared from time to time at the side of the fiddler, joining with him in very grotesque antics, in which an enthusiastic Phil-Hellene might discern the tradition of the mimetic dances of the ancients.
In the early part of the morning the picture of the Panagia was brought out of the church and exposed to the gaze and kisses of the multitude for more than an hour. I should think she would require a new coat of varnish next week. The old lady who had taken such pains to analyze her costmne for me, when she had finished her explanations said: "Now I expect you to give something to the Panagia," and, taking me by the hand, led me up to the great goggle-eyed picture, which I did not kiss, compounding for this ceremony by a liberal dole of piasters.
In the church I saw people sticking gold coins with wax on the faces of the saints: this custom has been handed down from Pagan times, for it is described by Lucian.$^{81}$
On going down to the village of Archangelo, we found it nearly empty of its inhabitants. After seeing a Greek village on the day of a festival, one can understand those stories in antiquity of towns being taken by surprise, the enemy marching in while the inhabitants were engaged at a festival in the neighbouring temple. I saw here a large church, which had just been built. The roof was formed ​by intersecting Gothic vaults solidly built of stone. The templum, as the east end is called, was separated from the rest of the church by a lofty rood-loft covered with elaborate carving in very bad taste. I inquired where they had found money to build such a church, and was told that it was the result of contributions in kind, the peasants having severally given so many days' labour, and the building materials having in like manner been furnished by the richer inhabitants. It was doubtless by similar free gifts that such magnificent churches and abbeys were built in the Middle Ages, in spite of difficulties of communication and a most imperfect development of commercial credit. The tradition of the Gothic style seems to have been retained at Rhodes since the time of the Knights,
I had so many questions to ask the priest, that I stayed in the church till I was roused by a warning cry from without of Pyslli, ppsylli, "Fleas, fleas;" and looking down, saw my trousers covered until files of black monster fleas, who were storming me by escalade. I dashed down the leaders with my hands; but they continued to crawl in such quantities that I should have been devoured without the assistance of the good-natured peasants, who laughed excessively. They explained to me, that as the whole population had been on their knees for several days in the church, it very naturally swarmed with fleas, whom even the Archangel himself (to whom the church is dedicated) had no power to excommunicate.
Plate 13.
RHODES. INTERIOR OF PEASANT'S HOUSE.
London. Published by Day & Son, Lith$^{rs}$ to the Queen.
view. On a tablet on the N.B. wall I copied part of an inscription in Gothic letters.
y fut Castel
Signor fra ingre maistre
On the N. wall were four escutcheons of the Knights.
On our way back we slept at a village near Rhodes called Koskino, one of the cleanest and most flourishing in the island. Here most of the inhabitants are muleteers, and own a little land besides. They are a thriving, active, fine-grown set of men, good specimens of the peasant proprietor.
Externally the house of the Rhodian peasant much resembles those in the villages of Malta. It is built of squared blocks of freestone, the door on one side, and very high up under the roof two small windows. The roof is flat, and supported inside by one large arch traversing the whole width of the house. The ceiling is made of reeds, over which outside is a thick bed of earth, which intercepts the fiercer rays of the sun, and, if duly rolled, keeps out the winter rain.
Internally, the house forms one large room very destitute of furniture. (See Plate 13.) In one corner is the nuptial bed, raised high above the floor on a kind of platform; in another corner the fireplace. The wall opposite the door is ornamented with an imposing array of plates of the old Lindos ware, each hung by a string. They are for ornament, not for use, and form part of the dower which every ​bride brings with her. The designs of these plates are generally floral patterns; the fabric seems similar to that of the Italian Majolica, though coarser in material and execution. The designs are so Persian in character, that it has been thought by some archæologists that these plates were alll imported from the East to Rhodes. There is, however, reason to believe that the greater part of those still existing in the island are of native manufacture, for on some of them are escutcheons with heraldic bearings. Below these plates a string stretches right across the wall; from it hang embroidered napkins wrought with very good taste by the women of the place: below these ornamental hangings is a row of large cupboards, containing various household implements. In another corner hangs the bread-basket, which is a large tray made of reeds, suspended from the ceiling, so as to be quite out of the way of all animals. Arriving just after Easter-day, we saw the Easter bread which had just been made, and which lasts as a stock for many weeks: it is in form like a ring. On another wall was a horizontal string, from which depended the Sunday clothes of both men and women, all beautifully embroidered and scrupulously clean. On one side of the fireplace I noticed a round earthen pot shaped like a bushel, in which the forks and spoons are kept ; and hence this is called kyttalotheke,—κυταλλοθήκη.
The mortar is still called ἴγδη, pronounced γδη; the pestle χέρι, or the hand.
The implements of spinning are unchanged from antiquity. The spindle is still called ἄτρακτο; the iron ​hook at the top, ἀγκιναρί; the round part or whirl at the bottom, σπονδύλη; the distaff round which the cotton is wound is called ῥουκα, probably from the Italian rocca.
We arrived at Koskino at the end of a feast, and found the beginning of a fray. I saw the knife bran- dished high in the air, but there was no great harm done. Half the village took part in the original quarrel; the turbans were rolled in the gutters; at last, out came the women to drag their husbands and children out of the meleé.
"What does it concern us, Chellebi," said my philosophic muleteer; "it is the Sultan's busmess, not ours, to look after the lives and safety of his subjects. Let them stick knives into each other if they will a most Levantine sentiment. This village being much nearer Rhodes than Archangelo, it was curious to see how the indirect influence of European civilization was spoiling the costume. The Manchester printed cotton blended its tawdry patterns with the simple, classical colours of the original island dress. There was, too, a corresponding change in the manners of the people: they danced, but the scene was less idyllic.