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Pilgrimage in the Holy Land
St John Phocas, tr. Stewart, 1889
Chapter 8
After this comes the city of Tyre, which surpasses in beauty almost all the cities of Phœnicia: it is built, like Tripolis, upon a similar peninsula, but is of very much greater extent, and possesses much more majestic and beautiful buildings than the latter. Its outer harbour is comparable to the harbour of Berytus, though the one much surpasses the other in size and beauty, and excels it in the height of its towers. Outside of the city, at a distance of about two bowshots, is a very great stone, upon which, according to tradition, Christ sat when He sent the holy Apostles Peter and John into the city to buy bread: they went away, brought it, and set out together with the Saviour to the neighbouring fountain, distant about one mile, where the Saviour sat down, and after having eaten with the Apostles, and drunk of the water, He blessed the fountain; and in truth the fountain remains an inexpressible wonder even to this day, for, springing up in the midst of the meadows there, it surprises and delights wayfarers. It is also said to be bottomless. Its construction and shape are as follows. Those who first made it a labour of love to build up this fountain encircled it with an octagonal tower, which they carried up to no small height, and having built the angles of it like spouts, and hollowed out channels on the top of lofty arches, they have forced the pent-up water to pour itself forth upon the corresponding meadows below each spout, as though out of a pipe; the water, plashing down loudly, waters all the meadows round about the fountain with plenteous streams. He who stands upon the top of this tower, as it were upon a watch-tower, can behold the moving masses of foliage below, and the whole coronal of meadows constantly irrigated even at high noon.