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where that minister's sofa is placed when he holds pub- 
lic audiences. This saloon is large, but it is ill suited 
to its purpose. 
The principal door of the house is a simple arcade, 
facing the wall of the seraglio, which is remarkable for 
a tower to which the Sultan comes sometimes incognito, 
to observe the public ceremonies of the Grand Vizier 
with the foreign ministers, &c. 
In the middle of Constantinople is the ancient palace 
of Constantine, called Eski Serai, or the Old Seraglio; 
I saw only its walls, which are very high. It is now oc- 
cupied by the women dismissed from the seraglio. 
Almost all the streets of Constantinople are narrow 
and dirty. They have a foot pavement raised about four 
or five inches on each side, but the whole of the streets 
are badly paved, and very inconvenient for foot passen- 
gers; hence I almost always rode on horseback. The 
houses resemble cages, on account of their having so 
many windows and balconies. I have already said that 
they are constructed with wood painted in glaring co- 
lours, and forming angles without any regularity. This 
construction occasions whole quarters to be burnt every 
year. There were two conflagrations during my stay, 
but the fanaticism of the Turks withstands all these 
dreadful trials. They build new houses similar to the 
old ones, and leave the preservation of them to Provi- 
dence. Thus it may one day be truly said, that the city 
of Constantinople has been built more than a hundred 
times. 
I saw some apothecaries' shops similar to those in 
Europe; a street of goldsmiths and jewellers, and an 
entire quarter occupied by braziers; which last I was 
obliged to hurry through for fear of being deafened with 
the noise, I also observed a very long street where 
