And then, again, these churches were meant to be seen in a setting
which has been destroyed, an environment that has ceased to exist; they
were surrounded by houses of a character resembling their own; they are
now in the midst of barracks five stories high, gloomy, ignoble
penitentiaries!--and we constantly see the ground about them cleared,
when they were never intended to stand isolated on a square. Look where
you will, there is a total misapprehension of the conditions in which
they were placed, of the atmosphere in which they lived. Certain
details, which seem to us inexplicable in some of these buildings, were,
no doubt, imperatively required by the position and needs of the
surroundings. In fact, we stumble, we feel our way--but we know
nothing--nothing!" "And at best," said Durtal, "archaeology and
architecture have o
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