CONSTANTINOPLE. 



183 



Coiwtanti- 

 iiople. 



the mint, and the vizier's divan; and opposite is the 

 Baba-Salem, or gate of Health, which leads to the se- 

 cond court, where is the audience chamber, in which 

 foreign ambassadors are received by the Sultan in per- 

 son. In this chamber is the throne, which resembles a 

 large four-posted bed ; the posts are inlaid with preci- 

 ous stones ; the canopy is of velvet, fringed with jew- 

 els ; and the cushion upon which the sovereign sits, is 

 composed of a massy embroidery of pearls. The gate 

 which terminates the second court, is called Baba-Saadi, 

 or the gate of Happiness, and through which no stran- 

 ger is allowed to pass. Beyond it are scattered a rich 

 profusion of buildings, terraces, and flower gardens, 

 where are immured above five hundred unfortunate fe- 

 males, devoted to the pleasures of a single master. Sel- 

 dom has love or pleasure been known to reside within 

 these abodes of luxury. Whatever can minister to the 

 vanity of its inhabitants is amply provided : sumptuous 

 apartments, splendid dresses, and a variety of amuse- 

 ments ; but they are tormented with the most corroding 

 passions, and are incessantly engaged in intrigues of ri- 

 valship. Many are doomed to waste their beauty in 

 vain attempts to please a master, who often receives 

 them with disdain ; and others are sacrificed, by the 

 application of poisonous drugs, to the jealousy of a rival. 

 The furniture of the palace is distinguished more by its 

 richness than its variety. It consists chiefly of the sofa 

 spread round the room, the carpets, and the mirrors. 

 The walls are wainscoted with jasper, veneered ivory, 

 and mother-of-pearl ; and the hangings are of silk and 

 cloth of gold, with fringes strung with pearls, and infe- 

 rior jewels. The gardens are laid out in a very inferi- 

 or style, more after the taste of Holland than of any 

 other country. " Various and very despicable jets d'eav," 

 9«ys Dr Clarke, '.' straight gravel walks, and borders 

 disposed in parallelograms, with the exception of a long 

 green-house filled with orange trees, compose all that 

 appears in the small spot which bears the name of the 

 Seraglio gardens." The library of the palace is said to 

 contain several valuable manuscripts, both Greek and 

 Latin, as well as Oriental. Many of them are kept in 

 confused heaps, without either catalogue or arrange- 

 ment ; and some have pretended, that the original gos- 

 pel of Matthew in Hebrew, and the last books of Livy 

 and Diodorus Sicidus, are among the number. This, 

 however, is merely conjecture, which rests upon very 

 questionable grounds. It is said, that Pope Nicholas V. 

 offered 5000 sequins for the gospel of Matthew, and 

 that the Grand Duke of Florence made an offer of 5000 

 piasters, which was doubled by the Bailo of Venice, for 

 the MSS. of Livy, but neither of them were produced. 

 It is impossible, indeed, to ascertain, with any degree of 

 precision, the real contents of this library, as it is inac- 

 cessible to Christians. 



The old Seraglio occupies the third hill, which is 

 nearly in the centre of the city, and is surrounded by 

 a lofty wall about a mile in circumference. It is now 

 appropriated to the reception of the wives and harems 

 of the deceased, or deposed sultans. They are here 

 treated with considerable distinction, but are secluded 

 tor life, as it is considered indecent that a slave, who has 

 enjoyed the favours of a Sultan, should pass into the 

 possession of another man. Such of the young ladies 

 of the harem, however, as are declared to have been un- 

 known to him, are generally united to some of the cour- 

 tiers of his successor. 



Among the numerous mosques and public edifices 

 winch adorn Constantinople, the first place, both for 

 magnificence and elegance of architecture, is due to the 



church of St Sophia, which seems to have served as a Constant;. 

 model for all the rest. (See Civil Architecture, vol. nople. 

 vi. p. 625. and Plate CLXXIII.) It stands, as we have > -""V~-' 

 already observed, on the north side of the ancient Augus- 

 teum, near the principal gate of the Seraglio. It is the 

 first erected Christian church now existing, and was built 

 by Constantine the Great, and dedicated to St Sophia, 

 or the " Inspired Wisdom." During the reign of 'Jus- 

 tinian, however, it was completely destroyed by fire in 

 a popular sedition, when that emperor ordered it to be 

 rebuilt with greater sumptuousness and elegance, under 

 the inspection of the most celebrated architects of the 

 time, Anthemius of Tralles, and Isidorus of Miletus. 

 It was finished in eight years and five months, and, ac- 

 cording to the lowest computation, at the expence of 

 one million sterling. Most travellers, who have visited 

 Constantinople, have given a description of this church, 

 but in general with such confusion or obscurity of nar- 

 ration, that it is difficult, from their statements, to con- 

 vey to our readers any correct idea of its several parts ; 

 and it has been very justly observed by an intelligent 

 and classical traveller of the 17th century; " along la- 

 bour it were to describe it exactly, and having done, 

 mine eyes that have seen it would but condemn my im- 

 perfect relation." (Sandys' Travels, p. 24.) The most 

 scientific idea of its architecture, will be derived from 

 consulting Grelot Voyage de Constantinople, and the 

 engravings published by Banduri in his Imperium Ori- 

 entate, ft is said to be built in the form of a Greek 

 cross with a dome, winch is constructed with so small a 

 curve, that the perpendicular concavity does not exceed 

 one-sixth of the diameter. This flatness is, in general, 

 much admired ; and, " if the great Vault of heaven be 

 the idea intended," says Mr Dallaway, " with a happier 

 imitation than in St Peter's at Rome." The outward 

 appearance of this building, however, owing to the he- 

 terogeneous additions which have been made to it, pre- 

 sents only a pile of unsightly masses. It was propped 

 with two immense buttresses by Andronicus in 1317; 

 and four minarets have been added by the Turks, which, 

 however, give it an air of lightness that it would not 

 otherwise possess. Its exact length from east to west 

 is 269 feet, and its breadth ,243. The principal vesti- 

 bule, which is on the west, is 28 feet wide, and has nine 

 doors of bronze, magnificently wrought in alto relievo. 

 The interior of the church, though many of its orna- 

 ments have been defaced by the Turks, still retains 

 much of its ancient grandeur. The grand dome has a 

 regular tier of windows, and rests upon four arcades, 

 connected with as many cupolas, which blending with 

 the principal one, forms an immense expanse of roof. 

 The whole has been originally ornamented with mosaic 

 work upon a golden ground ; but the Mahometans have 

 covered it completely over with white wash. The spa- 

 cious floor is entirely devoid of seats and benches, and 

 is -covered with the richest carpets ; and from the roof 

 are suspended innumerable lamps of coloured glass, in- 

 termixed with globes of crystal, ostrich eggs, and orna- 

 ments of gold and silver, which, when illuminated, give 

 a grand effect to the stupendous concave. Among the 

 numerous pillars which adorn this mosque, .ire six of 

 green jasper, which once supported the roof of the tem- 

 ple of Diana at Ephesus ; and eight of porphyry, that 

 had been placed by Aurelian in the temple of the Sun 

 at Rome, but were removed hither by Constantine. St 

 Sophia was dedicated to Islamism by Mahomet II., and 

 still retains the revenue which it enjoyed when a Chris- 

 tian church. This revenue, which arises from a species 

 of tenure called vacnf, in some measure analogous to 



