Indigo Plateau

A monumental complex on a high bare plateau, the terminus of the whole road. A long flight of pale stone steps rises from the approach to a wide terrace, flanked by plain rectangular pylons of dressed granite. The main hall behind is severe and symmetrical, its facade a colonnade of square pillars supporting a flat entablature with no ornament. Twin wings extend to either side, lower and windowless, in the same grey stone. Broad paved terraces surround the building, empty and swept, with shallow reflecting channels of still water cut into the paving. Braziers of black iron stand at the corners of the terrace on stone plinths. The plateau itself is bare rock and short alpine turf, falling away steeply on all sides. Snow-streaked peaks ring the horizon. Cloud moves below the level of the terrace in the valleys. The wind is constant and the air is thin and very clear.