followed for a quarter of an hour or so, another no less beautiful
point is reached from which one can look down upon the two small
lakes of Avigliana. These lakes supply Turin with water, and, I
may add, with the best water that I know of as supplied to any
town.

We will now return to the place from which the first of the
sketches on p. 95 was taken, and proceed to the sanctuary itself.
Passing the small but very massive circular ruin shown on the right
hand of the sketch, about which nothing whatever is known either as
regards its date or object, we ascend by a gentle incline to the
outer gate of the sanctuary. The battered plates of iron that
cover the wooden doors are marked with many a bullet. Then we keep
under cover for a short space, after which we find ourselves at the
foot of a long flight of steps. Close by there is a little terrace
with a wall round it, where one can stand and enjoy a view over the
valley of the Dora to Turin.

Having ascended the steps, we are at the main entrance to the
building--a massive Lombard doorway, evidently the original one.
In the space above the door there have been two frescoes, an
earlier and a later one, one painted over the other, but nothing
now remains save the signature of the second painter, signed in
Gothic characters. On entering, more steps must be at once
climbed, and then the staircase turns at right angles and tends
towards the rock.

At the head of the flight shown p. 98, the natural rock appears.
The arch above it forms a recess filled with desiccated corpses.
The great pier to the left, and, indeed, all the masonry that can