Shall I tell the icky part? Oh yes! There was a tiny, winding staircase up to the big room with the beautiful arches. (There was a wide staircase as well, but then, we don't do things the easy way.) Near the top of the stairs was a small chamber with the. . uh. . .toilet - a rock with hole in the middle for sitting. Contrary to what you might have expected, it did not open to the river nearby. I'm not sure just what happened to the, uh, stuff which went into the hole. I didn't ask.
But that's not the icky part. This is: in the same small chamber there was also a closet - really just an alcove. Clothes were ordinarily hung there in the belief that the fumes from the toilet would rid the clothing of pestilence and uncleanliness. In short, the stinky air was considered good for "perfuming" the clothing to keep it clean of impurities.
Shall I tell the icky part? Oh yes!
ReplyDeleteThere was a tiny, winding staircase up to the big room with the beautiful arches. (There was a wide staircase as well, but then, we don't do things the easy way.)
Near the top of the stairs was a small chamber with the. . uh. . .toilet - a rock with hole in the middle for sitting. Contrary to what you might have expected, it did not open to the river nearby. I'm not sure just what happened to the, uh, stuff which went into the hole. I didn't ask.
But that's not the icky part. This is: in the same small chamber there was also a closet - really just an alcove. Clothes were ordinarily hung there in the belief that the fumes from the toilet would rid the clothing of pestilence and uncleanliness. In short, the stinky air was considered good for "perfuming" the clothing to keep it clean of impurities.