_ 145 _ There were only eight monks in this monastery. The cells were round and roofed in straw, and their pinnacles bore crosses and small turrets. There was a good vegetable garden containing vines, lemon, fig and peach trees. There were fine peaches, and it was only April. From there the magistrate set off for the monastery of Bissan, which is on the peak of a mountain, and he arrived just after the vespers. At the gate of the enclosure some monks came to receive him. They wore tunics and hood robes of thick yellow linen. Each one had a cross above his head, and they had with them fifteen boys aged about fourteen, who were orphans looked after by the monks for the love of God. The magistrate was taken from there to another enclosure containing the church, at whose door they had to remove their shoes before entering. He was received here by seven monks wearing capes of Mecca brocade, in the same manner our monks dress at festival times. Five of them held raised crosses and the other two altar pieces depicting Our Lady. With them was the head of the monastery, who also wore a cape, with a piece of silk in the form of a cross around his reck. There were other monks without capes,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy