We may now follow the road to the N.E. through the adjacent suburb of Beshiktash, where, opposite the steamboat pier, rises the Türbeh Kheireddin Barbarossa (p. 221), which is best viewed from the Bosporus. Farther on are the ruins of the Chiragan Seraï (p. 558).
From the pier of Beshiktash a road leads to the N.E. to the Yildiz Kiosque, surrounded with barracks and high walls, formerly the residence of the now deposed sultan Abdul Hamid (1876–1909). The Palace and its Park, and the private Hamidieh Mosque, built of white marble, are inaccessible.
It is now best to return by tramway (No. 2; p. 538) to the large suburb of Top Haneh (Pl. I, 3), inhabited chiefly by Turks, with the loftily situated Jihangir Mosque (1553).
Here, in the esplanade of the Artillery Arsenal on the Bosporus, are situated the Mosque of Mahmud II. (1830) and a fine but now roofless Well House of the time of Ahmed II. (1703–30), resembling the sebíl at the Asab Kapu (p. 543). The Mosque of Kilij Ali Pasha (Pl. I, 3) was built by Sinán (p. 552).
We now return to Pera by the Rues Tchoukour Bostan and Yéni Tcharchi (p. 544), or by the Grande Rue de Galata (Pl. I, H, 3, 4), the busiest international thoroughfare, to Place Karakeuï (p. 543).
b. Stambul.
From the Rue Karakeuï, in Galata, the New Bridge (Pl. H, 4, 5) crosses the Golden Horn (p. 555) to Stambul (toll 10 paras; carr. 2½ pias.). It was originally built of timber in 1845, and called Sultan Valideh Bridge after its founder (the ‘sultan’s mother’), and was rebuilt in 1877. The new iron bridge was begun in 1909. It affords beautiful *Views of Galata and Stambul, of the Bosporus and the Asiatic coast, while its busy and picturesque traffic presents scenes of endless variety.
At the S. end of the bridge lies the Place Emin Eunou (Pl. H, 5), called also Baluk Bazar or fish-market, beyond which rise the fine outlines of the—
*Yeni Valideh Jami (Pl. H, 5), or ‘new mosque of the sultan’s mother’. Begun in 1615 by Khoja Kassim for the mother of Ahmed I., after the model of Ahmed’s Mosque, and damaged by the great fire of 1660, it was not completed till 1663. In the middle of the outer court are ranged, as in all the larger Turkish mosques, the forecourt (harám) with its three portals, the mosque itself, and the türbeh (p. 539), all turned towards Mecca (to the S.E.).
The forecourt, with its two elegant minarets and large wooden roofs above the side-portals, has a remarkably fine octagonal fountain of ablution (shudrivàn) in the centre.
Like the Suleïmanieh (p. 552) the mosque is preceded by two colonnades. In the interior the lower wall surfaces and the four massive pillars of the dome are incrusted with bluish-green tiles. The mihrâb wall is connected with the pillars by a gallery; adjoining it, near the mihrâb or prayer-niche itself, are the superb pulpit and the railed-in gallery of the sultan. The adjacent *Private Rooms of the sultan still have their original decoration of fayence tiles and stained glass.
The Türbeh contains the sarcophagus of the sultan’s mother and the tombs of five sultans, recognizable by the turban and double heron’s plume.
On the W. side of the outer court is the Missir Charshi (Pl. G, 5; ‘Egyptian Bazaar’), originally for goods from Egypt, but now a general market, next in importance to the Great Bazaar (p. 551). Among the wares in the open shops of the vaulted street the chief commodities are spices, drugs, and pigments.
To the W. of the Egyptian Bazaar, at the foot of Rue Ousoun Tcharchi (p. 551), rises the Mosque of Rustem Pasha (Pl. G, 5), vizier of Suleiman the Great (p. 542) and husband of his daughter Mihrimah (p. 553). It was built by Sinán (p. 552). The interior is noteworthy chiefly for the superb effect produced by its fayence tiles.
We follow the tramway (No. 3; p. 538), to the S.E., through the Rue Bagtché Kapou, so named after the old ‘garden-gate’ of Stambul, and the Hamidieh Jaddesi, crossing the broad Bab Ali Jaddesi which leads to the left to the Railway Station (p. 537). Farther on we come to the wall of the Seraglio on the left, and to (10 min.) the Sublime Porte (Pl. H, 6; vizierate and ministry of foreign affairs) on the right. Its central part, which contained the ministry of home affairs and the cabinet was burnt down in Feb. 1911.
The Seraglio or Seraï (Pl. H-I, 5, 7; now officially called Top Kapu Seraï, ‘seraglio of the cannon-gate’), with its neglected garden-terraces and miscellaneous buildings, occupies the site of the Acropolis and oldest streets of Byzantium (p. 541) and the first of the seven hills of New Rome. Within the extensive precincts, enclosed by a pinnacled wall and defended by towers, Mohammed II. in 1468 erected a summer palace, which Suleiman the Great (p. 542) enlarged and made his residence. All the sultans resided here until Abdul Mejíd built the Dolma Bagcheh Palace (1850–5; p. 558). In 1873 the railway was carried through the gardens, past the Granite Column of Emp. Claudius II. (268–70 A. D.). Around the palace are grouped the old church of Irene (p. 548), several military and other new buildings, the imperial Mint, and the School of Art founded in 1889.
From the chief entrance, the So-uk Cheshmeh Gate (Pl. H, 6), we ascend to the right, past the Mint, to the first terrace. A road to the left leads thence, behind the School of Art, to the New Museum, on the right, and the Chinili Kiosque, on the left.
The New Museum (Pl. I, 6), opened in 1891, contains the imperial **Collection of Antiquities, the arrangement of which is still incomplete. Adm., see p. 539. Director, Halil Bey.
Ground Floor. The first rooms, on the right and left of the entrance, contain the sarcophagi, including the famous coffins discovered in 1887 in the so-called royal tombs of Sidon (p. 470). The two vaults, in which the rulers of Sidon of the 6–4th cent. B. C. are supposed to have been buried, contained 26 stone coffins, some in the Egyptian form of a mummy, with sculptured heads, others shaped like Greek temples. In several cases their execution is highly artistic. The finest are in (right) Room I: *No. 48. So-called Satrap’s Coffin, of Ionian workmanship (first half of 5th cent.); *49. Sarcophagus of the mourning women, in marble, in the form of a temple, influenced in style by the works of Praxiteles (4th cent.). In (left) Room II: *No. 75. Lycian sarcophagus, with lid in the form of a pointed arch, executed under the fresh influence of the Parthenon reliefs (p. 517); **76. Alexander sarcophagus, an Attic original (about 300 B. C.), with traces of rich colouring; 90. Sarcophagus of Tabnit, king of Sidon, originally that of an Egyptian general (6th cent.). Again, in Room I: No. 1142. Tomb-stele from Nisyros (p. 490; about 500 B.C.); 45. Tomb-stele from Pella, a fine early Greek work like the last; 31–33. Fragments of Roman sarcophagi (Ulysses fighting against the wooers, etc.); also leaden coffins from Beirut, Khoms (p. 412), etc. (Room II contains also six terracotta coffins from Klazomenæ, 6th cent. B. C.). Among the objects in the other rooms we note a large Lycian sarcophagus from Trysa (2nd cent. B. C.); *1179. Late Roman sarcophagus from the region of Konia, with the recumbent figures of man and wife.
A large room is devoted solely to the art and inscriptions of the Hittites, the dominating race on the Upper Euphrates, in Syria, and in Asia Minor from about 1500 to 1000 B.C., who were afterwards split up into small principalities and lost their national characteristics. From this later period (about 9–8th cent.) date the numerous objects from Senjerli in N. Syria (among others No. 873. Two sphinxes as a base of a column). Other relics are from Marrash in N. Syria (840. Lion with inscription) and from Albistan (835. Limestone pillar).
Two rooms are set apart for the Greek-Roman sculptures. Among the chief early Greek works (6th cent. B.C.) are: No. 5bis. Reliefs from a tombstone in the form of a pillar, with scenes of peace and war; 8, 133. Torso of Apollo and Relief of Hercules drawing his bow, both from Thasos; 680. Tomb-stele from Dorylæum in Phrygia; *78. Head of a man, early Ionian, from Rhodes; 32, 33. Kybele, from Kyme; 1136. Relief, Birth of Athena, from Chalcedon.—Of the 5th cent.: No. 1189. Caryatid; 1433. Hermes Propylæos, after the famous work of Alkamenes (Roman copy); *148. Snake’s head from the tripod in the At Meïdán (p. 549). Among other creations of the Greek golden age (4th cent.) are: No. 1121. Statue of a youth; 114. Upper half of a stele, from Kyzikos; 1242. Relief with a portrait of Euripides; 1028. Relief of a woman playing on the lyre, from Mysia.—Hellenistic sculptures from Pergamum (p. 533): *764. Dancer, from a large circular monument; *1138. Marble head (Alexander the Great?); 72. Marsyas hanging (a good copy); also important: *709. Alexander the Great, from Magnesia on the Sipylos; 685. Colossal head of Zeus, from Troy; 9. Colossal statue of Apollo, from Tralleis; *1423. Relief of a boatman (?), from Tralleis, in the style of the ‘Alexandrine’ reliefs.—Of Roman origin: 31. Largest representation of the so-called Thracian horseman, from a triumphal arch at Saloniki.
In the room of the Byzantine antiquities we note No. 164. Statue of the Good Shepherd (3rd cent.?); *1090. Early-Christian pulpit from Saloniki, with the Adoration of the Magi in detached figures; 189, 190. Fragments of a column with scenes with figures (Baptism of Christ, etc.; about 500); also interesting capitals with figures and foliage ornamentation.
Two rooms form an Architectural Museum (Asia Minor relics).
The First Floor is occupied by the Babylonian-Assyrian antiquities (incl. the glazed terracotta sarcophagi from Nippur, and No. 1027. Votive relief of king Narâm-Sin, about 3750 B.C.), the unimportant Egyptian relics, and curiosities from Cyprus (p. 489), Himyar (region of Yemen in S. Arabia), and Palmyra. Then collections of bronzes and trinkets from Schliemann’s excavations at Hissarlik (p. 534), from the Sidonian sarcophagi (p. 546), etc.; vases and terracottas from Asia Minor (Hissarlik, Myrina, Priene), Cos (p. 490), and Rhodes; glass vessels from Asia Minor, Cyprus, Syria, and Tripolitania; also a collection of coins.—The N. wing contains the Museum Library.
The elegant Chinili Kiosque (Pl. I, 6; ‘fayence palace’), one of the oldest Turkish buildings in the city, was erected in 1470 by Kemal ed-Din under Mohammed II., in the Persian style, and was restored in 1590. In 1908 it was converted into an *Oriental Art Museum. Adm., see p. 539.
The two-storied portico (ticket-office on the left) contains tombstones, etc.—The vestibule, with its original inscribed frieze, is adorned with well-preserved green *Fayence Tiles.
The domed hall and five side-rooms contain Arabian, Persian, and Turkish fayence, Turkish pottery, seals (tugres), firmans, and irades of Turkish sultans, woodwork (koran-desks, cabinets, etc.), leather (beautiful book-bindings), and metal work; also cut gems, Arabian and Venetian glass, mosque-lamps, embroidery, and *Persian Carpets. The chief treasures of the collection are the *Prayer Niche from the palace of the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin at Konia (13th cent.) and a throne of Selim I. (p. 512).
Passing the Mint (p. 546) we next enter the outer court of the Seraglio. In the centre rises the huge Janissaries’ Plane Tree (Pl. I, 6), where the janissaries (p. 550) used to meet.—To the left the Orta Kapu leads to the Seraglio Palace (adm., see p. 540). It contains the throne-room (Arsh Odasi) of the time of Suleiman the Great, the Library, the Imperial Treasury (hazneh han), and the superb Bagdad Kiosque (1639), etc.
Above the outer court rises, on the right, the Church of Irene (Pl. I, 6; dedicated to ‘divine peace’), a domed basilica built by Constantine, and restored first by Justinian after the Nika revolt (p. 541), and again in 740. After the Turkish conquest it was used as an arsenal, but is now a Military Museum (adm., see p. 539).
We leave the Seraglio by the Bab i Humayún (Pl. I, 6), the superb modern gate of the sultan, replacing that of Mohammed II.
In the Seraï Meïdán (Pl. I, 6, 7; ‘Seraglio Square’), on the S.W. side of the palace-walls, rises the *Fountain of Ahmed III., erected in 1728, the finest sebíl in the city, with a well-preserved timber roof. Nearly opposite are the Aya Sophia and the Ministry of Justice (Pl. H, 1, 7), which was the meeting-place of the new Turkish parliament in 1908–9.
The **Aya Sóphia Mosque (Pl. H, 7; adm., see p. 539), formerly the church of St. Sophia, 4 min. to the S. of the So-uk Cheshmeh Gate (p. 546), is the most famous edifice in the whole city. Here in 326, opposite to his palace, Constantine erected a basilica, which he dedicated to Divine Wisdom (Sophía), and which after a fire in 415 was rebuilt by Theodosius II. The church having again been destroyed during the Nika rebellion, Justinian caused the present sumptuous edifice, which was to eclipse all others in the empire, to be erected in 532–7 by Anthemios of Tralleis and Isidoros of Miletos.
The plan of the building is nearly square. Its axis, contrary to custom, runs to the E.S.E., in line with that of the palace. It measures 82½ by 77 yds., but if the atrium or forecourt had still existed the length would have been no less than 184 yds. The edifice with its nave and aisles presents a curious combination of an ancient Christian basilica with a dome-covered mosque. Above the nave, which is 36 yds. in breadth, the great dome, 105 ft. in diameter and 184 ft. in height, but externally inconspicuous, rises on four massive pillars. It is continued lengthwise by two half-domes, relieved by niches, the large E. central niche forming the apse. The upper story of the aisles, borne by antique columns with capitals resembling imposts, and the galleries above the inner vestibule contained the gynæceum, or women’s seats.
The Crusaders pillaged the church in 1204 (p. 542), and many of its treasures were carried off also at the Turkish conquest. The mosaics were whitewashed, the minaret at the S.E. angle was erected, and the unsightly flying buttresses were added on the E. side. To the further detriment of the general effect the successors of the conqueror built the other three minarets, the mausoleums, schools, and outbuildings. A thorough restoration was undertaken by Fossati, an Italian architect, in 1847, when the outside was painted yellow with red stripes.
The entrance for visitors is in the N. side-street, by a door to the left of the N.W. minaret. A few steps descend to the Inner Vestibule (eso-narthex), from which five doors open on the outer vestibule (exo-narthex) and nine portals lead into the interior. At the S. end of the inner vestibule, opposite the N. entrance, is a Byzantine *Bronze Door (9th cent.), with part of the original panels.
The northmost portal admits us to the *Interior, in which the immense central dome, in contrast to St. Peter’s at Rome, dominates the entire nave. The marble pavement is partly destroyed and partly covered with carpets and mats spread obliquely in the direction of Mecca (S.E.). The mihrâb or prayer-recess has been placed, for the same reason, a little to the S. of the axis of the apse. Beside the pillars of the apse are, on the right, the mimbar, or Friday pulpit, and on the left the octagonal grated gallery of the sultan, resting on eight antique columns. The nave contains several open galleries or tribunes for prayer-recitals. The Koran niche in the S. aisle also is worth seeing. (Visitors should be careful not to touch anything.)
During the nights of Ramadan (p. 539) visitors are admitted only to the galleries, which the sacristan will show at other times.
On the S. side of the mosque, adjoining the Aya Sophia Meïdán, rise five Türbehs, or burial-chapels of sultans. The southmost, once the baptistery of the church, dates perhaps from Justinian’s reign.
The Aya Sóphia Meïdán (Pl. H, 7), a busy square planted with trees, on the S. side of the mosque, was the ancient Augusteion (or Agorá), the greatest centre of traffic in New Rome, whence the triumphal road led to the Golden Gate (p. 554). Down to the Turkish conquest it was adorned with a mounted statue of Justinian. Adjoining it on the S.W. lies the At Meïdán (Pl. H, 7; ‘horse square’), 330 yds. long, partly occupying the site of a Hippodrome begun by Sept. Severus (p. 541) and completed by Constantine. From these two squares, and from the Seraï Meïdán (p. 548), the Roman and Byzantine imperial palaces, with their dependencies and several churches, extended to the S.E. to the town-wall on the Sea of Marmora.
At the N. angle of At Meïdán, where Rue Divan Yolou (p. 550) diverges, lies a small Public Garden. Farther on, to the S.W., passing a Street Fountain presented by Emp. William II. in 1898, we come to three ancient monuments which still occupy their old places on the spina of the Hippodrome (comp. p. 348). One is the Obelisk of Theodosius I., dating from the time of Thutmosis III. (p. 456; brought from Heliopolis), with Roman reliefs, on the pedestal, of the imperial family viewing the races from the court-stand of the Hippodrome. The second is the bronze *Snake Column, once the central support of a huge tripod which the Greeks erected as a votive offering at Delphi after the victory of Platæa (p. 506). The third is the so-called Colossus, an obelisk of unknown origin.
No less conspicuous than the Aya Sophia is the *Mosque of Ahmed I. (Pl. H, 7), on the S.E. side of At Meïdán. It was built by the young sultan of that name in 1608–14 as the second-largest mosque in the city, and is the only one besides the Kaaba at Mecca that has six minarets. The large outer court, planted with trees and often used as a market-place, is separated from At Meïdán by a broken-down wall. The lofty chief portal, with its stalactite niche and its fine bronze gate, leads into a forecourt flanked with domed colonnades where we notice the pretty stalactite capitals. In the centre rises a superb hexagonal marble fountain with a railing.
The interior of the mosque (79 by 70 yds.), in the style of the Mehmedieh (p. 553), resembles the Shahzadeh mosque (p. 552) in the disposition of its four half-domes. The great central dome, 73 ft. in diameter, rests on four clumsy round pillars, and around it runs a low gallery with depressed keel-arches. The walls are lined with white marble below and with beautiful fayence tiles from Nikæa above.
To the S.W. of At Meïdán is the Janissaries’ Museum (Pl. G, H, 7; adm., see p. 539), in which are exhibited wax-figures wearing the ancient costumes of Turkish dignitaries and the uniforms of the Janissaries, or old body-guard (1328–1826).
To the S. of the Museum, close to the railway, rises the *Küchük Aya Sóphia (Pl. H, 7, 8), or ‘little’ mosque of Aya Sophia, a kind of prelude to the ‘great’, now containing a military museum. It was built under Justinian in 528, at the same time as San Vitale at Ravenna, as a church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus. The building is nearly square, with semicircular niches at the angles, and encloses an octagonal interior, between the eight corner-columns of which are four semicircular niches and four straight rows of columns. The junction of the walls with the dome was masked, as later in the Sophia Church, by curved triangular spandrels or pendentives.
Beyond the public garden (p. 549) we enter the Rue Divan Yolou (tramway No. 3, p. 538). At the end of it, on the right, is a railed-in burial-ground containing the handsome Türbeh of Mahmud II. (d. 1839) and his son Abdul Aziz (sultan in 1861–76). Entrance to the right, in Rue Mahmoudié.
In the main street, now called Sedefdjilar Yolou, we next come to the second hill of New Rome (p. 541), crowned with the so-called Burnt Column (Pl. G, 6; Turk. Chemberli Tash, ‘stone with the hoop’). This great column of porphyry was erected by Constantine on the ancient ‘triumphal way’, to mark the centre of his forum, and bore his statue in bronze down to 1105. It was restored in 1909. The street then leads past the Kalpakjilar Kapu (on the right), the S. gate of the Great Bazaar (p. 551), to the Bayazid Mosque (p. 551).
From the Burnt Column the Rue Nouri Osmanié leads to the N. to the white marble Mosque of Nuri Osmanieh (Pl. G, 6), a bold dome-roofed edifice copied from the Selim Mosque (p. 553), but with a semicircular forecourt.
Adjacent on the W. is the *Great Bazaar (Pl. G, 6; Turk. Büyük Charshi, ‘great market’), one of the sights of Constantinople. It lies in a depression between the Nuri Osmanieh Mosque and the Serasker Square (see below) and forms a distinct quarter of the city, enclosed by gates. As in the sûks (p. 335) the crafts mostly have their own streets or districts. Most of the buildings have been re-erected since the earthquake of 1894. To the early 17th cent. belongs the still extant castellated Valideh Han (see below); of the early 18th cent. are the Bezestán (the main central building, founded in the 10th cent.) and the Sandal Bezestán. Besides genuine Oriental wares many European goods also are sold here.
The Nuri Osmanieh Kapu, on the W. side of the outer court of the mosque, opens on to the Kalpakjilar Bashi Jaddesí, the main thoroughfare on the S. side of the Bazaar. Immediately on the right is the Sandal Bezestán, once the silk-bazaar, now a warehouse (usually closed).
The street on the N. side (Restaurant Tokatlian, see p. 537) leads to the W. after a few paces to the Bezestán (Pl. Bez.; G, 6), where artistic old weapons, gold and silver wares, inlaid furniture, etc. are displayed. In the street on the E. side are sold jewels and trinkets; on the N. side cloth, Oriental antiquities, and books; on the W. side Turkish women’s apparel and embroidery; on the S. side leather-work, etc.
From the W. gate of the Bezestán we pass through the Bezestán Jaddesí, with its clothes-shops, to the Ousoun Tcharchi, the main street ascending from the Rustem Pasha Mosque (p. 545) to the S. gate (Kalpakjilar Kapu, p. 550). Going straight on we may ascend through the curved Fesjiler Jaddesi, the fez-market, to the Bit Bazar Jaddesi, a street running to the N. and S., the entrance to the (left) Second-hand Market (Bat Bazar, jestingly called ‘bit bazar’ or louse-market). In the other direction, a few paces to the N., is the Hakkaklar Sokak, with the stalls of the seal-engravers, booksellers, etc., leading to the Bayazid Mosque.
Those who intend to return from the Great Bazaar direct to the New Bridge (p. 545) may visit also the Valideh Han (Pl. G, 5, 6; see above), the seat of the Persian traders, situated in the Chakmakjilar Yokussu, diverging to the E. from the Ousoun Tcharchi.
On the third hill of the city, the site of the forum of Theodosius I., rise the Bayazid Mosque and the Seraskerat in its large court.
The *Mosque of Bayazid (Pl. G, 6) was erected in 1489–97 by the Albanian Kheireddin, under sultan Bayazid, son of Mohammed II., the conqueror. The handsome portals of the forecourt recall Seljuk prototypes. The beautiful forecourt, enlivened ever since the time of the founder by countless pigeons, has pointed arcades with elegant domes. In the centre is an octagonal fountain. The interior, tastelessly painted in the Turkish rococo style in the 18th cent., is a simplified imitation of the Aya Sophia.
To the N. of the mosque the Serasker Kapu, the modern S. gateway, leads into the court, now a drilling-ground, of the Seraskerat (Pl. F, G, 5; or ministry of war). Here once stood the Eski-Seraï, the oldest palace of the sultans (comp. p. 546). The *Serasker Tower (closed on Frid.; fee 3–5 pias.), about 200 ft. high, built by Mahmud II. (d. 1839) of white marble from the island of Marmara (p. 535), affords a magnificent view of the city.
Behind the barracks on the N. side of the Seraskerat, or by the Serasker Jaddesi to the right, we descend to the terrace of the Suleiman Mosque, which is surrounded by schools, baths, and the Residence of the Sheikh ul-Islam.
The **Mosque of Suleiman the Great (Turk. Suleïmanieh; Pl. F, G, 5), erected in 1550–66 by the Albanian Sinán (Mimar Sinán Agha), on the model of the Aya Sophia and the Bayazid Mosque, is one of the two master-works of this most famous of Turkish architects (the other being the Selim mosque at Adrianople). The superb chief portal on the N.W. side is three stories in height. At the angles of the forecourt (63 by 49½ yds.) rise four minarets of unequal height. The exterior of the mosque is embellished with two arcades; the smaller domes are charmingly grouped round the great dome; the latter, only 85 ft. in diameter, is loftier than that of Aya Sophia.
Notwithstanding the striped decoration with which it was marred at the time of the restoration under Abdul Aziz (p. 550), the interior surpasses all the other mosques of Constantinople in harmony of structure, in picturesqueness of perspective, and in magnificence of ornamentation, but is unfortunately badly lighted. Between the four pillars of the dome, on each side, are two monolith columns, 29 ft. high, with stalactite capitals, supporting the upper stories of the aisles. The *Mihrâb Wall is enriched with beautiful fayence tiles and with stained glass by Serkosh Ibrahim.
In the burial-ground behind the mosque rise the handsome Türbehs of Suleiman (fee 5 pias.) and his favourite wife Roxolana.
From the outer court of the mosque, with its fine old cypresses and plane-trees, we may descend to the E. to Rustem Pasha’s Mosque (p. 545) and the New Bridge (p. 545); or we may go to the N.W. to the Old Bridge (Pl. F, G, 4; p. 555; toll 10 paras) and the Rue Iskander (p. 543).
From the W. gate of the Seraskerat, or from the W. angle of the outer court of the Suleiman mosque, we may soon reach the two-storied Aqueduct of Valens (Pl. F, E, 6, 5), dating from the reign of that emperor (368 A. D.) but much restored. It bridges the space between the fourth and third hills of the city.
On the S. side of the aqueduct, near the scene of the great fire of 1908, rises the Shahzadeh Mosque (Pl. E, F, 5; ‘prince’s mosque’), an early work of Sinán (see above), erected by Suleiman in 1543–7 in memory of his son Mohammed. The plan is similar to that of the Mehmedieh (see below). It is charmingly fitted up in the interior. In the two türbehs repose the princes Mohammed and Jíhangir and the princess Mihrimah. As a rule the muezzin permits visitors to ascend one of the minarets for a small gratuity.
From this mosque the Rue Chahsadé Bachi ascends to the N.W. to the Mosque of Mohammed II. (Pl. D, E, 4; Mehmedieh or Fatih Jami; comp. p. 542), the holiest in Constantinople after that of Eyúb (p. 555). It was built by the Greek Christodulos in 1463–9 on the fourth hill of the city, on the site and with the materials of the Apostles’ Church. This church, founded by Constantine, had been restored by Justinian and was famous as the burial-place of the emperors.
The outer court, planted with cypresses, on the N.W. side of which a busy market is held, is surrounded, as in the Byzantine age, by a great many miscellaneous buildings. The plan of the mosque is probably the same as that of the Apostles’ Church. The forecourt is commanded by two minarets. The interior, in the form of a Greek cross, has four half-domes in the two axes adjoining the central dome, four smaller corner-domes, and three galleries. The whole building was modernized after the earthquake of 1767.
The first Türbeh behind the mosque is that of ‘the Conqueror’.
From the N.W. corner of the outer court the Sultan Mehmed and Sultan Selim streets lead to the N. to the Mosque of Selim I. (Pl. E, 3; Turk. Selimieh) on the fifth city-hill, erected by Suleiman the Great in 1520–6 in memory of his warlike father Selim I. (p. 542). This is the simplest of all the sultans’ mosques. The outer walls are roofed with a single semicircular dome.
To the S. of Mehmedieh, between the fourth city-hill and the Lykos Valley, among the ruins caused by a fire, rises Marcian’s Column (Pl. D, E, 5; Turk. Kiz Tash, maiden’s stone), erected in honour of that emperor (450–7).
In the Lykos Valley, to the S.W. of Marcian’s Column, once lay the Barracks of the Janissaries (p. 550), who were massacred in the Et Meïdán here (Pl. D, 5; ‘place of flesh’) after a revolt in 1826.—In the Ak Seraï quarter (Pl. D, E, 6), on the ancient triumphal way (p. 550), lay the Roman Forum Boarium (cattle-market). The road ascended thence to the seventh city-hill. Here, in the quarter now called Avret Bazar, is still seen the pedestal of the marble Column of Arcadius (Pl. D, 7; Turk. Avret Tash, women’s stone), the sole surviving relic of the forum of Arcadius.
From the Mehmedieh a main street (carr. 5 pias.) leads direct in ¼ hr., to the N.W., to the Edirneh Kapu (see below).
Beside the city-wall, near Rue Edirné Kapou, is the sixth and highest city-hill, on which rises the Mihrimah Mosque (Pl. C, 3), built in 1556 by Sinán (p. 552) for the princess Mihrimah (p. 545), on the site of the Byzantine monastery of St. George, and restored in 1910.—From the Greek Church of St. George we walk about 250 paces to the N.E., and then descend to the right, near the city-wall, to visit the—
Kahrieh Mosque (Pl. C, 2), once the church of the monastery of Chora (‘in the country’), which probably existed before the time of Theodosius II. It was restored in the 11th cent. and enlarged in the 14th, and contains famous Byzantine *Mosaics (sacristan lives near).
We now turn our steps to the ruinous Edirneh Kapu (Pl. C, 2; Adrianople Gate), the gate of Charisius or cemetery-gate (Porta Polyandriu) of the Byzantines.
Outside the gate, where stretches the largest Moslem Cemetery of Stambul, we obtain an excellent view of the old *Land-Wall of the city, over 4 M. in length. The chief part of it is the Theodosian Wall (p. 541), extending from the Sea of Marmora to the Tekfur Seraï (see below). This was originally a single wall, defended by towers, but after an earthquake in 447 it was doubled, the two walls being 66 yds. apart and, from the bottom of the moat, 100 ft. high.
The S. part of the land-wall may be visited by carriage (one-horse 10, two-horse 10 or 15 pias.; bargaining necessary) from the Edirneh Kapu. We drive past Top Kapu (Pl. A, 4; ‘cannon-gate’), once the gate of St. Romanos, famed in the siege of 1453, to Yedi Kuleh railway-station (Pl. A, B, 9). We may return thence to the town by local train (about every ½ hr.), or from the Yedi Kuleh Gate by tramway (No. 4; change at Ak Seraï, p. 553), or from Psamatia Kapu (Pl. B, 8) by local steamer (p. 538).
Near the S. end of the wall rises the castle of Yedi Kuleh (Pl. A, 9; ‘seven towers’; adm. except Sun. 2½ pias.; small fee to lantern-bearer), rebuilt by Mohammed II., within which is the dilapidated Porta Aurea (‘golden gate’), once the triumphal gate of the Byzantine emperors.—On the Sea of Marmora, at the point where the land-wall joined the Marmora Sea Wall, rises the octagonal Mermer Kuleh (Pl. A, 9; ‘marble tower’), the sole relic of a castle of the time of Emp. Basil II. (976–1025).
To the N.E. of the Edirneh Kapu, beyond the Greek Cemetery (Pl. C, 2), the Theodosian city-wall is joined by the single but stronger Wall of the Blachernae Quarter (‘marsh-land quarter’). This wall served for the defence of the famous St. Mary’s Church of the empress Pulcheria (ca. 450), and for that of the Blachernæ Palace, founded at the end of the 5th cent., which in the 12th cent. became the imperial residence instead of the older palaces in the Augusteion (p. 549). The wall dates partly from the reigns of Emp. Heraklios (610–41), Leo V. (813–20), and Manuel Comnenus (1143–80), but was largely rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The ruined Byzantine palace rising above the town-wall near the small Kerkoporta (Pl. C, 2), the so-called Tekfur Seraï (‘emperor’s palace’), was probably founded by Constantine VII. Porphyrogenetos (912–59). Of the Blachernae Palace itself the foundations are still traceable between the Egri Kapu (Pl. C, 1; once Porta Kaligaria) and the Aivas Effendi Mosque. To the old terrace of the palace belonged the massive Towers of Isaak Angelos and Anemas (Pl. C, 1).
On the N. side the land-walls end with the picturesque castle of Brachionon or Pentapyrgion, answering to the Yedi Kuleh on the S. side. It lies between the inner and the site of the outer Blachernæ gate. Near it are buried the Arabs who fell in 678 (p. 541).
From the Aivan Seraï Kapu (Pl. D, 1), which belongs to the old Sea Wall on the Golden Horn (p. 541), a broad road to the left (N.W.) leads through the suburb of Ortakjilar (Pl. B, C, 1) to (¾ M.) Eyúb (p. 555). Straight on, we soon reach the Aivan Seraï pier (p. 555).
c. The Golden Horn.
By Caïque (p. 538) from the New Bridge to Eyúb about 1 hr., to the Sweet Waters 1½–2 hrs. (there and back 20–25 pias.). The row back is particularly fine towards sunset.—Steamboat (p. 538) to Eyúb in ¾ hr., thence to the Sweet Waters 20 min.
The Golden Horn, already named Chrysokeras by the Greeks, an arm of the sea 4½ M. long and at the widest point ½ M. across, probably a submerged side-valley of the Bosporus, is one of the finest natural harbours in the world. In the Byzantine period it was closed for defensive purposes by a chain. It consists of the Outer Commercial Harbour (Pl. H, I, 4, 5), with the Galata Quay (p. 543) and the new quays on the Stambul side, the Inner Commercial Harbour (Pl. G, H, 4), between the two bridges, and the Naval Harbour (Pl. E-G, 2, 3).
The voyager on the Golden Horn is chiefly struck with the busy harbour scenes and the picturesque appearance of the crowded Oriental quarters rising from the banks. Starting from the New Bridge (Pl. H, 4) the steamer crosses the inner commercial harbour to the pier of Yemish Iskelesí (Pl. G, 4) at Stambul, at the foot of the terrace of the Suleiman Mosque, and then passes under the Old Bridge (Pl. F, G, 4; p. 552) into the naval harbour. On the Stambul side it first calls at the piers of Jubali Kapu and Aya Kapu (Pl. F, 3), the latter lying below Selim’s Mosque (p. 553).
Next, on the same side, are the piers of Phanar (Pl. E, 2), the Greek quarter, where a terrible massacre took place in 1821, and Balat (Pl. D, 2), the largest Jewish quarter.
On the opposite bank, from the Old Bridge onwards, lie the dockyard buildings. On the bay of Kasím Pasha (calling-place of some of the steamboats) is the Ministry of Marine (Divan Haneh; Pl. G, 2, 3), with its surrounding barracks, workshops, and docks. In front of it are anchored men-of-war and guard-ships.
The steamer next touches at Ters Haneh (Pl. E, 2), on the E. bank, at the end of the dockyard, and at the Jewish quarter of Haskiöi (Has Keuï; Pl. E, 1); then, on the W. bank, at Aivan Seraï (Pl. D, 1; p. 554), where we have a fine view of the N.E. end of the land-walls and the beginning of the sea-wall on the Golden Horn; then, on the E. bank, at Kalijeh Oglu, and on the W. bank at Defterdar Iskelesí (Pl. C, 1) and Eyúb (see inset plans in Plan of City).
In the suburb of *Eyúb, a few minutes’ walk from the pier, is the famous Mosque of Eyúb, where the ceremony of girding each new sultan with the sword takes place. It was built of white marble by Mohammed II., the Conqueror, in 1459, adjacent to the türbeh of Abu Eyúb Ensari, the legendary standard-bearer of the prophet, whose tomb here was revealed in a vision a few days after the conquest. The spot is so revered by the Moslems that until now no Christian dared set foot even in the outer court. Since the establishment of the new Turkish government, however, visitors may enter the deeply impressive court and even the mosque itself, but they should be careful not to remain standing between the railings in the centre of the court and the gilded windows on the wall-side.
From the mosque, up the hill-side to the N.E., extends the picturesque Cemetery, with its venerable cypresses. A path ascends from the mosque, past a monastery (Tekkeh) of the dancing dervishes (p. 543), to the top, where we have a splendid *View of both banks of the Golden Horn.
From Eyúb a smaller local steamer plies through the Stambul Liman, the shallow N.W. arm of the Golden Horn, 1¼ M. long, to Kiathaneh, or Kiahat Haneh; this trip, on Fridays or Sundays in spring, affords an interesting picture of Turkish life. At Kiathaneh two streams fall into the Golden Horn, the so-called Sweet Waters of Europe (the Asiatic waters, see p. 558), or Eaux Douces. The eastmost is the Kiathaneh Suyu, in the valley of which, about 1¼ M. up, is a château of the sultan, the most popular holiday resort of the citizens of Constantinople. In the meadows, under shady trees, are erected huts and arbours, where music and amusements of all kinds are provided. The Moslems enjoy themselves sedately here on Fridays; the Christians come on Sundays; hither too the people of fashion ride or drive. Shortly before sunset a whole flotilla of boats on the Golden Horn returns home to the city.
d. Scutari.
Steam Ferry Boats from the New Bridge (see p. 538) and Beshiktash to Scutari. Those from the New Bridge to the minor stations Salajak, near the Leander tower, and Harem-Iskelesí, below the Selimieh Barracks (p. 536), are less frequent and are seldom used by strangers.—Carriages have the same tariff as in the city (p. 538). Drive from the pier to the Chamlija Spring and back viâ the Great Cemetery (about 2½ hrs.) 1½ mejidiehs (30 pias.).—Horse to the Bulgurlu about 1 mej.
The steamer leaves the Seraglio Point on the right and steers to the E. to (¼ hr.) the chief landing-place at Scutari, which lies on the Asiatic shore, in a bay to the N. of the promontory. To the right, off the end of the promontory, is a flat islet on which rises the so-called Leander’s Tower (by the Turks named Kiz Kulesí, i.e. maiden’s tower, from the legend that a sultan’s daughter was once kept here), with a signalling station and lights.
Scutari (no European inns), Turk. Üsküdar, the ancient Chrysopolis, the harbour of Chalcedon (p. 536), now a large suburb of Constantinople, contains 90,000 inhab., comparatively few of whom are Armenians and Greeks. Its fine old mosques, its crooked streets, and its small timber houses give it a more Oriental character than Stambul. Until a century ago Scutari was the terminus of the caravan-routes from Asia Minor, by which the treasures of the East were brought to Constantinople. It is still the starting-point of the sacred annual Mecca caravan.
From the pier we follow the broad main street past the Büyük Jami (‘Great Mosque’; 1547), on the left, and the Yeni Valideh Jami (1707–10), on the right, beyond which a road to the right diverges to the Dervishes’ Monastery and the Great Cemetery.