637 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



659 



('turbcV), where sultans, viziers, and great personages repose, are 

 handsome. The spacious barracks erected by the late Sultan 

 Mahmud for the Nizam, or troops of the line, may be reckoned 

 among the public ornaments of the city and suburbs. The govern- 

 ment has established naval and military medical colleges, and 

 numerous schools, but the instruction given in them is of a very 

 confined and elementary character. The military hospital on the 

 west side the city is a well-regulated establishment : there is also a 

 plague hospital. 



The public baths, of which there are said to be upwards of 120 

 within the walls, with their very low and small and flat domes, do 

 not contribute to the beauty of the city externally, though within 

 many of them are exceedingly handsome and spacious. The public 

 fountains are remarkable and numerous : some of them, with their 

 pure white marble facades, elaborate arabesque ornaments, and 

 -e roofs, are most beautiful objects. The water is conveyed to 

 Constantinople, as also to the suburbs of St. Dimitri, Pera, Galata, 

 4c. by the aqueduct of the Sultan Mahmud, erected in 1732, and by 

 means of narrow subterranean aqueducts, and ' souterazi,' or hollow 

 hydraulic pyramids, which latter are placed at certain irregular 

 distances, and so contrived as to overcome the inequalities of surface 

 presented by the country that intervenes between the bendts and 

 y. Within the walls the lofty aqueduct of Valens still performs 

 its duty, carrying the fluid across a deep hollow. 



From the sea Constantinople with its mosques, cupolas, and 

 minarets, interspersed with dark cypresses, and with its port crowded 

 with shipping, baa a very imposing and splendid appearance ; but a 

 stroll through the city soon dispels this illusion. With the exception 

 of one very long street, which traverses the city nearly from the 

 high walls of the Seraglio to the gate of Adrianople, the streets are 

 narrow, winding, filthy, and perilous from dogs and thieves ; they 

 display no public buildings of any account, no trade, no luxury, 

 and are uncommonly dull and deserted. The houses are low, and 

 mostly constructed with wood or rough stones. The ' gazeboo ' or 

 ' shah-nishins' (projecting windows) are latticed and closed like the 

 windows of convents ; and many of the houses have no windows at 

 all towards the street, but only a low, narrow, dingy door. All the 

 life and activity of the interior of the city is concentrated in the 

 bazaars or bezertines. These are long wide eerridors, communicating 

 with each other mostly in an irregular and striking manner ; their 

 side walls are built of stone, and they are covered in with stone 

 arches or successions of domes, through which a subdued light is 

 admitted. The dealers are separated by nations or religions and by 

 trades. As in most eastern towns, and formerly also in European 

 towns, persona who practise the same trade or follow the same 

 occupation live together in streets by themselves. Towards the 

 evening the coffee-houses, which are excessively numerous, though 

 chiefly of mean appearance and dimensions, are much thronged by 

 Turks, Armenians, Greeks, and Jews, all smoking and indulging in 

 tiny cups of coffee ; which is generally drunk by the poorer classes, 

 not only without milk, but without sugar. The city proper com- 

 prises separate quarters for the Jews, Armenians, and Greeks. The 

 Greek quarter called the ' Fanar ' extends along the west shore of the 

 Golden Horn, opposite Pera, and is connected with this suburb by a 

 bridge of boats erected in 1 837. The Turks leave commerce generally to 

 the Armenians and Greeks, many of whom are very wealthy. The 

 Jews of Constantinople are descendants of the Jews of Malaga and 

 Granada, expelled from Spain in the 16th century; they still speak 

 the Spanish language. The Turkish women in Galata and some other 

 parts of the town are importunate beggars ; the only male beggars 

 to be seen are Greeks and Dervishes. The city is badly lighted at 

 night : there is a law enjoining its inhabitants to hang out a lamp on 

 every fifth house, but it is very generally disregarded, as is also the 

 law which commands all persons going out after dark to carry a lantern. 



The communication between the city and the opposite suburbs 

 of Galata, Pera, and Tophnna is kept up by means of caiques, or 

 light fast wherries, the constant passing and repassing of which give 

 the port an animated appearance in the day-time. The imperial dock- 

 yard, the arsenal, the artillery barracks are all on the northern side 

 of the Golden Horn, and the elevated plateau of Pera is the resi- 

 dence of the foreign ambassadors to the Porte, of the dragomans, 

 Frank merchants, &c. An active communication is also kept up by 

 the same means with Scutari, where caravans and travellers are 

 constantly arriving from various places in Asia Minor. 



To an inhabitant of western Europe the number of dogs in Con- 

 stantinople ia a subject of astonishment. These animals are never 

 domesticated but always live out of doors wherever there is a dry 

 in the filthy streets there they lie. They and the rats (which 

 are numberless) are the only scavengers ; they feed upon the offal 

 thrown into the streets from butchers' shops and private houses, 

 upon the carcasses of animals, and occasionally on the bodies washed 

 out of the sea upon the shore of the Bosporus, along which and in 

 Home of the cemeteries they prowl in search of prey. They seem to 

 have divided the city into wards, and no dog is allowed under pain 

 of a desperate worrying to trespass on his neighbour's territory. 

 They are seldom known to bite any person unless trodden upon. 

 Hydrophobia is unknown in the east. Myriads of pigeons too are seen 

 in the city, each mosque feeding a great number of these birds ; and 



iu the harbour and along the Bosporus vast numbers of gulls, puffin 

 birds, ducks, herons, and other water-fowl are seen, fearless of man, as 

 the Turks never molest much less kill them. 



The port of the Golden Horn is safe, capacious, and beautiful ; but 

 it has one serious drawback which affects it as an emporium. During 

 the summer, the Etesian or north wind blows unremittingly from the 

 Black Sea down the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and Straits of the 

 Dardanelles, thus retarding the approach of all sailing vessels from the 

 Mediterranean and ^Egean to the capital. Sailing-vessels undertaking 

 the voyage upwards at that season are often detained two or even 

 three months at Besica Bay or at Tenedos, on the coast of Troy, near 

 the mouth of the Dardanelles, where whole fleets of wind-bound 

 ships, laden with goods for the capital or the Black Sea, are frequently 

 at anchor. This serious obstacle can only be overcome by steam- 

 vessels. The first steamer that appeared on the Bosporus was an 

 English boat, purchased by the Turkish government iu 1828. Now 

 Austrian, Russian, French, and English steamers ply regularly to 

 Constantinople. The Golden Horn extends for about 5 miles from 

 south-east to north-west between the city and the suburbs of Pera, 

 Galata, Tophana, Cassim Pasha, and St. Dimitri, and has a breath of 

 from one to four furlongs, with depth enough for the largest ships. It 

 is capable of holding 1000 sail and is generally full of mercantile and 

 other ships, with a vast number of caiques, which ply between the 

 city and the suburbs. In the suburb of Tershanna, which lies along 

 the north shore of the Golden Horn, to the north of Galata, and west 

 of Cassim Pasha, are the government arsenals and dockyards and the 

 bagnio. The quays of the harbour are good, and ships lie alongside. 

 The suburbs just mentioned are the residence of foreigners, and the 

 piincipal commerce of Constantinople is carried on there. The present 

 sultan has built a new palace in the Tophaua suburb, which he 

 inhabits in preference to the old palace at Seraglio Pont. The new 

 structure is built of white marble, and has a fine effect rising from the 

 water's edge. There are also extensive cannon foundries in this suburb. 



As a manufacturing town Constantinople scarcely deserves men- 

 tion ; pipes and pipe-sticks, muslin handkerchiefs, costly saddlery, 

 and horse-trappings are the principal articles produced. The 

 foreign trade however is very considerable; it is entirely in the 

 hands of the Armenians, Greeks, and foreign merchants. The 

 exports are made up of raw silk, opium, carpets, hides, wools, Angola 

 goats' hair, boxwood, galls, bullion and diamonds, yellow berries, 

 madder, valonea, linseed, and bones. The imports comprise manu- 

 factures, colonial and other goods, not only for its own population 

 but for a considerable portion of both European and Asiatic Turkey. 

 The chief articles of import are corn, iron, timber, tallow, and furs, 

 chiefly from Russia ; cotton stuffs and yarn, woollens, silks, coals, tin 

 plates, tin, cutlery, jewellery, watches, paper, furniture, glass, drugs, 

 and dye-stuffs, from western Europe ; corn and coffee from Egypt 

 (but considerable quantities of coffee from Brazil and the West Indies 

 are imported in English and American ships), wax, copper, drugs, 

 gums, porcelain, ruin, pepper, spices, &c. ; sugar is imported partly 

 from the East but chiefly from the West Indies. The exports are 

 always very much less than the imports. Between 5000 and 6000 

 ships enter and clear out of the port annually, but these numbers 

 include many vessels on their way to or from the Black Sea ports. 

 The nations principally engaged in the foreign maritime commerc" of 

 Constantinople are England, Greece, Austria, Russia, Italy, and the 

 Ionian Islands. A considerable foreign trade with Persia, Armenia, 

 and other eastern countries is carried on by caravans from the 

 suburb of Scutari, which is built on the Asiatic shore of the Bosporus, 

 opposite the entrance of the Golden Horn. 



Although the land in the immediate neighbourhood of Constanti- 

 nople is neglected and desolate, there are many beautiful spots to the 

 north ward along the shores of the Bosporus. Among these may be 

 mentioned Stenia, Therapia (the favourite resort of the Greeks in 

 summer, and the site of the summer palace of the French embassy), 

 and Bujukdere, on the European shore; the last-mentioned is situ- 

 ated at the eastern extremity of a beautiful valley, and contains many 

 lovely gardens and the summer residences of most of the foreign 

 ambassadors. The valleys and villages just named, and others iu 

 their neighbourhood, abound in picturesque and beautiful scenery, 

 neat cottages, and thriving villages, situated among well-cultivated 

 gardens. This enviable prosperity they owe to the immunities 

 accorded to the foreign embassies, whereby they are exempted from 

 the tyranny and extortions of the Pashas aud Cadis, which have con- 

 Verted the land about Stamboul generally into a desert. Nearly 

 opposite Bujukderd, on the Asiatic shore, is Unkiar Skelessi, once a 

 favourite resort with the sultans, on the site of whose palace now 

 stands a paper factory, built of white marble, erected by Selim III. 

 At the extremity of the valley of Unkiar Skelessi is the Giant's Moun- 

 tain, or Juscha-Tagh, as it is called by the Turks, who have a tradi- 

 tion that Juscha, or Joshua, was buried on it. The Russian army in 

 1833 encamped on the Giant's Mountain and in the valley at its foot, 

 and here the treaty of Unkiar Skelessi was signed (June 26), whereby 

 Turkey bound herself to close the Dardanelles against the fleets of 

 England and France. The suburb of Scutari, which has been 

 merely mentioned in this article, is described under its proper head. 



The Turks have never loaded trade with heavy duties or jealous 

 prohibitions ; their code extends immunities and high consideration 



