The
citadel is exceedingly difficult of ascent; but the magnificent view
which it commands of the plain of the Hermus, and other objects of
interest, amply repays the risk and fatigue. The village, small as it
is, boasts of containing one of the most remarkable remains of
antiquity in Asia; namely, the vast Ionic temple of the heathen goddess
Cybele, or the earth, on the banks of the Pactolus. In 1750, six columns
of this temple were standing, but four of them have since been thrown
down by the Turks, for the sake of the gold which they expected to find
in the joints.
Two or three mills and a few mud huts, inhabited by Turkish herdsmen,
contain all the present population of Sardis.
* * * * *
MARTELLO TOWERS.
[Illustration: Letter A.]
At a time when there appeared to be good reason for believing that the
invasion of England was contemplated, the Government turned their
attention to the defence of such portions of the coast as seemed to
present the greatest facility for the landing of a hostile force. As the
Kentish coast, from East Were Bay to Dymchurch, seemed more especially
exposed, a line of Martello Towers was erected between these two points,
at a distance from each other of from one-quarter to three-quarters of a
mile.
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