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having contracted the many waters from much of the land. 5.1 But in these things, the southern part of the city, but the northern part is very rugged and difficult to traverse. 5.2 For a mountain, rising above, looms over the hills, raising itself over no small part of the city itself and the rest of the land, so that one part of it is level and suitable for the needs of the inhabitants, while the other extends to the hills and the peaks of the mountains. 5.3 But the extension of the mountain does no harm to the city, in that it does not provide an opportunity for enemies to attack from above and overcome the wall; for the hill there has given some small space for guarding against any plot, having repelled an easy assault by means of the intervening ground. 5.4 And from there the mountain extends for a great distance and stands high, being made rugged by hills and ravines, looking toward the midmost east; but as far as it stretches, pressing towards the east, so far it escapes the lands lying below on the side of either part. 5.5 For on the two sides of this mountain, I mean both on the south and on the north, plains are spread out, both accessible and useful, bestowing every resource for a good life on the citizens; 5.6 of which the one to the south of the mountain, and to the east of the city, is exceedingly beautiful and lovely. 5.7 For it is adorned with luxuriant trees, various gardens, and limitless waters, some from springs, others from rivers, which the thickets of the mountain grant to the plain and they also welcome the sea itself. 5.8 For vines planted next to each other crown the lands and urge the beauty-loving eye to gladness with the abundance of their fruits; 5.9 and many and frequent monasteries of monks, inhabiting both the slope of the mountain and the land lying below the rest, and being situated in some most delightful places, have become a new thing for both travellers and the citizens themselves. 5.10 The plain on the left side of the mountain is also itself stretched out for a great length, and it widens as far as other mountains; in the middle of which two certain wide lakes are spread out like a sea, occupying the greater part of it and they also contribute a certain great service. 5.11 For they nourish fish both small and large, and various in kind and many in number, providing a most bountiful table for the neighboring villages and for the city itself. 5.12 For the lakes, as it were, contend with the sea in their provisions of these things, and they compete as to which of them might provide the greater amount. 5.13 However, each is conquered by the other, and the victor does not know against whom to adjudge the defeat. 5.14 The rest of the plain is given over to farmers, and is yielded to animals, both those that obey the arts of men and those that leave a free track in the mountains. 5.15 For deer, leaving the mountains and as if delighting in the waters of the lakes, have at the same time an abundant drink, and herding with the cattle in it, they partake of common food. 6.1 But having in these things sufficiently described the parts of the city to the east and north, and moreover also to the south, let us relate, as far as possible, the position of its region to the west. 6.2 There is another plain, beginning from the very wall of the Ekbole, touching the mountain on the right, and bordering the sea on the left, lying before the eyes of beholders with unspeakable beauty. 6.3 For one part of it is drenched with waters, as much as boasts of having both the city and the sea as a neighbor, crowned with vines and leafy trees and gardens, adorned with buildings and some very many venerable chapels, the greater number of which bands of monks have taken for themselves, practicing every form of virtue and living for God alone, toward whom they hasten and for whom they have left the turmoil of the city and taken up the path that leads to him alone. 6.4 But the part from there is spread over the dry land for a great distance, having for the most part woodless vegetation, but offering the practice of every agricultural care. 6.5 And it extends, looking toward the setting of the sun, as far as some other mountains

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πολλοῦ τῆς χέρσου τὰ πολλὰ τῶν ὑδάτων συστείλαντα. 5.1 Ἀλλ' ἐν τούτοις τὸ κατὰ νότον μέρος τῆς πόλεως, τὸ πρὸς βορρᾶν δὲ ὡς λίαν τραχὺ καὶ δύσβατον. 5.2 ὄρος γὰρ ὑπερκύπτει τοὺς λόφους ὑπερανεστηκός, οὐκ ὀλίγον μέρος καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς πόλεως τῆς λοιπῆς ὑπεραῖρον γῆς, ὡς τὸ μὲν αὐτῆς πεδιάσιμον εἶναι καὶ ταῖς χρείαις τῶν ἐνοικούντων κατάλληλον, τὸ δὲ τοῖς βουνοῖς καὶ ταῖς τῶν ὀρῶν ἀκρότησιν ἀνατείνεσθαι. 5.3 ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ἀδικεῖ τὴν πόλιν ἡ τοῦ ὄρους παράτασις ὡς ἐμπαρέχειν ἄδειαν τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀφ' ὕψους ἐπεμβαίνειν καὶ τοῦ τείχους κατεπαμύνεσθαι· ἔδωκε γὰρ ὀλίγην τινὰ σχολὴν ὁ βουνὸς ἐκεῖσε πρὸς τὸ φυλάττεσθαι πᾶσαν ἐπιβουλήν, τῷ διὰ μέσου χώρῳ τὴν εὐχερῆ προσβολὴν ἀποκρούσας. 5.4 τὸ δ' ἐντεῦθεν ἀνατείνεται μέχρι πολλοῦ τὸ ὄρος καὶ ὑπερίδρυται, τοῖς λόφοις καὶ ταῖς χαράδραις ἐντραχυνόμενον, τὴν μεσαιτάτην ἀνατολὴν ἀφορῶν, ἀλλ' ὅσον διήκει τὴν πρὸς ἀνατολὴν ἐπειγόμενον, τοσοῦτον τὰ ἐκ πλαγίου ἐφ' ἑκατέρου μέρους ὑποκείμενα διαφεύγει τῆς γῆς. 5.5 ἐν γὰρ ταῖς δυσὶ πλευραῖς τοῦδε τοῦ ὄρους, τοῦ τε πρὸς νότον φημὶ καὶ τοῦ πρὸς βορρᾶν, πεδία ὑφήπλωται βάσιμά τε καὶ χρήσιμα, πᾶσαν ἀφορμὴν εὐζωΐας τοῖς πολίταις δωρούμενα· 5.6 ὧν τὸ μὲν ὡς πρὸς νότον τοῦ ὄρους, πρὸς ἀνατολὴν δὲ τῆς πόλεως, ὡς λίαν ἐστὶ παγκαλλὲς καὶ ἐράσμιον. 5.7 κεκόσμηται γὰρ δένδρεσιν ἀμφιλαφέσι, παραδείσοις ποικίλοις, ὕδασιν ἀπείροις, τοῖς μὲν πηγαίοις, τοῖς δὲ ποταμίοις, οἷς αἱ λόχμαι τοῦ ὄρους τῷ πεδίῳ χαρίζονται καὶ αὐτὴν δὲ δεξιοῦνται τὴν θάλασσαν. 5.8 ἄμπελοι γὰρ ἀλλήλαις παραπεφυτευμέναι τὰ χωρία στεφανοῦσι καὶ τὸν φιλόκαλον ὀφθαλμὸν τῇ πληθύϊ τῶν καρπῶν εἰς εὐφροσύνην προτρέπονται· 5.9 μοναὶ δὲ μοναχῶν πολλαὶ καὶ συχναὶ τό τε ὑπτιάζον τοῦ ὄρους καὶ τὸ τῆς λοιπῆς γῆς ὑποκείμενον κατοικοῦσαι, καί τισι τερπνοτάτοις χωρίοις ἐγκαθεζόμεναι, καινόν τι χρῆμα τοῖς τε ὁδίταις καὶ αὐτοῖς τοῖς πολίταις πεφύκασι. 5.10 τὸ δὲ κατὰ λαιὰν πλευρὰν τοῦ ὄρους πεδίον ἐστὶ καὶ αὐτὸ τεταμένον εἰς μῆκος πολύ, εὐρύνεται δὲ μέχρις ἄλλων ὀρέων· οὗτινος ἐν μέσῳ πελαγίζονται δύο τινὲς εὐρεῖαι λίμναι, τὸ πλεῖστον τούτου διακατέχουσαι καί τινα μεγάλην καὶ αὖται συνεισφέρουσαι χρείαν. 5.11 τρέφουσι γὰρ ἰχθύας καὶ μικροὺς καὶ μεγάλους, καὶ τοῖς εἴδεσι διαφόρους καὶ πολλοὺς τῷ πλήθει, ταῖς τε γείτοσι κώμαις καὶ αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ πόλει δαψιλεστάτην ἀποπληροῦντας τράπεζαν. 5.12 καὶ γὰρ οἷον φιλονεικοῦσιν αἱ λίμναι ταῖς τούτων ἐπιδόσεσι πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ ἁμιλλῶνται τίς αὐτῶν τὸ πλεῖον παράσχηται. 5.13 πλὴν ἑκάτεραι νικῶνται ἐξ ἑκατέρων, καὶ ἡ νικῶσα οὐκ ἔχει τίνι τὴν ἧτταν καταψηφίσεται. 5.14 τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν τοῦ πεδίου ἀνεῖται τοῖς γεωργοῖς, παραχωρεῖται τοῖς ζῴοις, τοῖς τε πειθομένοις ταῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τέχναις καὶ τοῖς ἐλεύθερον ἀφιεῖσι τὸ ἴχνος τοῖς ὄρεσιν. 5.15 ἔλαφοι γὰρ τὰ ὄρη λιποῦσαι καὶ ταῖς λίμναις ὥσπερ τῶν ὑδάτων ἐπιτερπόμεναι ὁμοῦ τε ἔχουσιν ἄφθονον τὸ ποτόν, καὶ ταῖς βουσὶν ἐν αὐτῷ συναγελαζόμεναι κοινὰ τὰ σῖτα προσφέρονται. 6.1 Ἀλλ' ἱκανῶς ἐν τούτοις τά τε πρὸς ἀνατολὴν καὶ βορρᾶν τῆς πόλεως, ἔτι γε μὴν καὶ τὰ πρὸς νότον διαγραψάμενοι τὴν πρὸς δύσιν αὐτῆς τοῦ χώρου θέσιν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἱστορήσωμεν. 6.2 ἔστιν ἕτερον πεδίον, ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ τείχους τῆς Ἐκβολῆς ἀπαρχόμενον, τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ ὄρους ἁπτόμενον, τῇ λαιᾷ δὲ τῇ θαλάσσῃ συνομοροῦν, ἀμύθητον κάλλει ταῖς τῶν ὁρώντων ὑποκείμενον ὄψεσιν. 6.3 ἔστι γὰρ τὸ μὲν αὐτοῦ διάβροχον ὕδασιν, ὅσον αὐχεῖ τήν τε πόλιν ἔχειν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν γείτονα, ἀμπέλοις καὶ δένδρεσι κατακόμοις καὶ παραδείσοις κατεστεμμένον, οἰκήμασί τε καί τισι πλείστοις σεβασμίοις σηκοῖς κεκοσμημένον, ὧν τοὺς πλείονας μοναχῶν ἀγέλαι διείλοντο, πᾶν εἶδος ἀρετῆς ἀσκοῦντες καὶ θεῷ μόνῳ ζῶντες, πρὸς ὃν ἐπείγονται καὶ δι' ὃν τὰς πολιτικὰς ταραχὰς λιπόντες τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ μόνον φέρουσαν τρίβον ἀνείλοντο. 6.4 τὸ δ' ἐντεῦθεν αὐτοῦ διαχεῖται τῇ χέρσῳ μέχρι πολλοῦ, ἄξυλον μὲν ὡς τὰ πολλὰ τὴν βλάστην ἔχον, πάσης δὲ γεωργικῆς ἐπιμελείας ἐπιτήδευσιν παρεχόμενον. 6.5 διήκει δὲ τὴν ἡλίου δύσιν ἀποσκοποῦν, ἕως τινῶν ἄλλων ὀρέων