Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/195

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
IN THE LEVANT.
155

the richly-sculptured facades, and lending mystery to a solitude only distiurbed, when from the gloom of some deep archway a veiled form glides by with averted face, scared at the unwelcome presence of the Frank traveller.

About halfway down the street, on the left, as you descend, is the auberge or lodge of the French langne (Plate 9), the façade of which is particularly rich in heraldic ornament. Over the door are the arms of the Order, and those of Emeri d'Amboise, mth the date 1492, and two other coats. In the upper story, within a frame of Gothic leaves, are the arms of France and of D'Aubusson on a marble tablet. Above the French coat are the words Montjoie and St. Denis; below, the date, 1495, and the words Voluntas Dei est. Near the doorway is the escutcheon of Villiers de l'Isle Adam, as Grand Prior, with the inscription "Pour Philerme, 1511." In another place the same coat, with the inscription " Pour la Maison, 1511," and a tablet inscribed "Pour I'Oratoire, 1511." Over a side-door the arms of the Order, those of Emeri d'Amboise and of Yilliers de l'Isle Adam, between oriflammes. The facade is crowned with battlements and small turrets, below which two long fantastic dragons' heads project as gurgoyles. A little higher up an archway crosses the street, above which is the auberge of the Spanish langue.

The arms of England may be seen on another house. At the bottom of the street is a house with the escutcheon of the Grand Master, Fabrizio del Carretto, and the date 1519. The style of archi-