184 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



1,-ionstaiiti 

 nople. 



R Io3ques. 



Atnei- 

 «lan, or 

 horse- 

 course. 



church lands with us, amounts to nearly 3000/. a year, 

 which is employed in keeping the mosque in repair, and 

 in paying the stipends of the officiating imams. 



Besides St Sophia, there are several other very hand- 

 some mosques, many of which were originally Greek 

 churches. The imperial mosques, especially those 

 which have been built by particular Sultans, appear 

 nearly equal to that of St Sophia, though, upon a near- 

 er inspection, their inferiority is obvious. Of these, 

 the principal are, that of Mahomet II. which crowns one 

 of the seven hills, and stands upon the site of the cele- 

 brated church of the apostles, built by Theodosia the 

 wife of Justinian ; that of Achmet I. which was con- 

 structed in 1610, at an enormous expence, and has six 

 minarets of extraordinary height and beauty, but the 

 internal embellishments are gaudy and irregular ; that 

 of Bajazet, in which are twenty columns of remarkable 

 size and value, viz. ten of verd antique, four of jasper, 

 and six of Egyptian granite ; that of Solyman II. which 

 is esteemed of superior symmetry and elegance, and 

 was constructed from the materials of the church of 

 St Euphemia at Chalcedon. The mosque of Laleli, or 

 the Tulip, is small, but very elegant, and was built by 

 Sultan Mahinood in 1753. It is wainscoted with ve- 

 neered marble, and has two large embroidered tablets, 

 on which are represented the cities of Mecca and Me- 

 dina. Every mosque has, in general, a large area in 

 front, surrounded by a lofty colonnade of marble with 

 gates of wrought brass, and in the centre are fountains 

 of polished marble. Adjoining to each is the sepulchral 

 chapel of its founders, where his remains are deposited, 

 and sometimes such reliques as are worth preserving. 

 In that of Sultan Mahmood, is the Koran written with 

 his own hand. These mosques have also an hospital 

 and academy attached to them, where students are edu- 

 cated and maintained upon the foundation. Of the 

 Christian churches in this city, the Greeks have twen- 

 ty-three, including the patriarchal church ; and the Ar- 

 menians three. There are six Roman Catholic con- 

 vents, and several Jewish synagogues, also a Swedish 

 Lutheran church. . 



Among the antiquities of Constantinople, the Atmei- 

 dan, or horse-course, deserves particular attention. It 

 is the ancient circus, or Hippodrome of the Greeks, so 

 constantly occupied by public games and exhibitions, 

 and it still continues to be the scene of most of the pub- 

 He ceremonies and processions of the Turks. The 

 area is about 250 paces in length, and 1 50 in breadth, 

 but its sides are very irregular. On the east is the 

 mosque of Sultan Achmet, and on the west the ruins 

 of a large building, supposed to have been the ques- 

 tor's palace, part of which is now appropriated to the 

 reception of lunatics, and another part is used as a me- 

 nagerie. Of the numerous statues and obelisks with 

 which the circus was anciently ornamented, during the 

 Greek empire, few have escaped the fury of the Turks, 

 and the earlier ravages of the French and Venetians. 

 An obelisk of superior workmanship, which stands near 

 the centre of the area, is composed of a single block of 

 Egyptian granite 60 feet high, and is inscribed with 

 Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was brought from Thebes 

 by Theodosius the elder, and erected at Constantino- 

 ple, by means of curious machinery, in 32 days. The 

 base is of white marble, seven feet in height, and sculp- 

 tured with bas-reliefs representing the emperor presi- 

 ding at the circus games. The Greek and Latin in- 

 scriptions are now almost sunk under ground, or totally 

 obliterated. Towards the- south end of the area is the 

 serpentine pillar, a singular fragment of antiquity, 



which is confidently said to have ©nee supported the Constamtt. 

 golden tripod which was consecrated by the victorious no P le - J 

 Greeks in the temple of Delphos, after the defeat of — ' ' 

 Xerxes. It is of wreathed brass, about twelve feet 

 high, and formerly terminated at the top, with figures 

 of three serpents rising from the pillar, and with necks 

 and heads forming a beautiful triangle. The lower 

 jaw of one of the serpents was shattered by Mahomet 

 II. with a stroke of his battle-axe ; and we are told by 

 De La Mottraye, that during his stay in Constantinople, 

 in the year 1 700, the other two heads were stolen by some 

 unknown depredator, but who was generally suspected to 

 be a servant of the imperial ambassador. Chishull, how- 

 ever, mentions in general, that they were broken off' by 

 some attendants of the Polish ambassador who lodged 

 in the neighbourhood. The Atmeidan still serves as a 

 place of equestrian exercise; and it is here that the Turks 

 practise upon horseback, a kind of military game called 

 djirit, to which the young men of fashion are trained 

 from their childhood as a necessary accomplishment. 

 This game consists chiefly in darting at each other, with 

 great violence, the djirit, a white wand of about four 

 feet in length ; and their skill is shewn by avoiding the 

 stroke, in pursuing their adversary, in checking their 

 horses in full gallop, or in stooping from them to reach 

 the djirit from the ground. This exercise requires 

 great agility and strength, and is both fatiguing and 

 dangerous. 



The other remains of Grecian architecture are the Aqueduct 

 aqueduct of Valens, and some triumphal columns. The of Valens* 

 former, which conducts the brook Hydrale from Bel- 

 grade, was constructed with materials from the walls of 

 Chalcedon ; and connects the third and fourth hills by 

 more than 4-0 arches. It was repaired in 570 by Justin 

 the younger, and almost completely renewed by Soly- 

 man the Magnificent. The columns still to be seen 

 are those of Constantine, Marcian, and Arcadius. Of 

 the latter, however, the base only remains, which is 14 

 feet high, but all the sculpture is defaced. The shaft, 

 which was covered with a series of bas reliefs represent- 

 ing the victory of his father Theodosius over the Scy- 

 thians, was, on account of its ruinous state, taken down 

 in 1695. That of Constantine is the most perfect, and 

 is called by the Turks " the burnt pillar," having suf- 

 fered greatly from frequent conflagrations. It stands 

 upon a pedestal of white marble nearly twenty feet, 

 high, and is composed of huge blocks of porphyry 

 about S3 feet in circumference, with circles of embos- 

 sed brass to conceal the joints. On the summit stood a 

 colossal statue of Apollo, in bronze, supposed to have 

 been the work of Phidias, but it is now overthrown, 

 and the porphyry is discoloured and cracked by the 

 fire. The column of Marcian stands in a small enclo- 

 sure or garden, and is surmounted by a capital of the 

 Corinthian order, which is rather disproportioned to the 

 shaft, and is unclassically rich in ornaments. 



As frequent ablutions are commanded by the Koran, Foun-airs 

 and are also required by the exigencies of the climate, and baths, 

 there are within the walls of Constantinople 1 30 public 

 baths ; and fountains are to be found in almost every 

 street. The baths of the Greeks were continued by 

 their Turkish conquerors ; and those of Zeuxippus, Ar- 

 cadius, and Eudoxus, were dedicated to the service of 

 the public. Many more have since been erected, but 

 they are all nearly of the same plan ; and some of them 

 are very elegant buildings of hewn stone, having the 

 inner chambers paved with slabs of beautiful marble. 

 The use of the bath in Turkey is very different from 

 our method of bathing, and resembles rather the lustra- 





