266 CONSTANTINOPLE. 



which betrays at the first glance that Nature meant 

 it for the seat of a world-empire, Constantinople with 

 the opposite Pera, looked at from the sea, makes no 

 cheerful or elevating impression. Nobody would say 

 "I have seen Constantinople and can now die!" Pro- 

 bably the dark cypresses, with which the Turk adorns 

 his bury ing -places, rising everywhere in large groups 

 between the houses, give an air of gloom to the 

 aspect of the city in spite of its glorious environment. 

 It may also be the mental reflex of the melancholy 

 history of the place, or the presentiment that the 

 struggle for Constantinople will one day set Europe 

 in flames - - in short, the sight of Constantinople excites 

 our admiration indeed, but it does not delight us 

 like that of Naples or many another finely situated 

 city. The prominent architectural structures also, such 

 as the building of the ancient Seraglio at the Golden 

 Horn and even St. Sophia, have nothing stimulating 

 or cheering about them, although they are imposing 

 by reason of their size. The dome of the ancient 

 church of St. Sophia rises mightily indeed above the 

 sea of houses, but one perceives only the dome with 

 its unornamental pillars, looking ungainly at a distance. 

 The external appearance of St. Sophia has been 

 sacrificed to the beauty of the interior, which is indeed 

 grand and sublime beyond all conception. Never has 

 an architectural structure or any work of art, nay 

 hardly one of the grandest of Nature's beauties, made 

 so overpowering an impression upon me as the dome 

 of St. Sophia seen from within. One altogether forgets 



