The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-07-14
INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, /
BLcoMINGToN, Ind, June IA, 1870.

INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY,
BLOOMINGTON, Ind, June IA, 1870.
Editors Journal:
Returning from the Crimea to Con-
stantinople, we crossed the Bosphorus
to the Asiatic side, in order to visit
scUTARI AND A LARGE TURKISH GEM
ETERY.
Ascending the heights of Scutari,
which are, perhaps, five hundred feet
above the Black Sea, We had mag
nifcent panoramic view. On the
north the hazy Euxine seems stretch
ing illimitably to mingle its dark
waters with the clOudless azure of the
vaulted sky; while our western gaze
is greeted by the glories of the Bos
phorus and Golden Horn, including
city and suburbs con tanning three.
quarters of a million inh abitants, en-
closed by high walls, fortified by two
hundred and fifty towers, and pierced
with twenty-eight gates. AS we turn
toward the south, tall Moslem nina
rets seem to vie with the originally
Christian dome of st. Sophia in
sending up reverential worship to the
Heavenly Throne; incense which
even the most devoutly Evangeli-
cal Frank must deem immeasure.
ably in advance of the polytheism
which fourished formerly on the
Asiatic shore. The spectator has but
to move bis eye from Europe to Asia,
across the sea of Marmora, in order
to discern even from these Scutari
heights, in the dim distance, the
peaks of the mountains amid whose
Oiympion clouds, heather mythology
assembled in council Jupiter and
other gods to deliberate and decide
on the fate of men and nations.
As we descend, we wander through
one of those large Turkish cemeteries,
of which so many surround the city
of Constantine. The Americans have
separate places of burial, and they, as
we'll as the Jews, usually have hori-
zontal slabs to mark the resting place
of their friends, whereas the Turks in
variably erect a vertical column. shaft
or slab, surmountcd by turban to
denote a mans sepulchre, while for a
woman the summit is carved into a
wedge shaped termination. The Gem
eteries are usually kept in good order,
and every grave, even the most obscure,
seemed marked by these vertical
stones numerous stone cutters reside
ing always close to the graveyards
Their practices of having interspersed
throughout vast numbers Of the oy-
press tree, the CypreSsuS Thy0ides,
sometimes called white cedar, not the
cypress of our Southern States, i'm
parts a deep shade, and greatly adds
to the mournful aspect of their very
extensive cemeteries. Not far from
here the English have buried many of
those who persisted during the Cri-
mean war, hospitals being erected
near Constantinople, and have erected
fine obelisk to the memory of their
departed heroes.
But let US return to the more gay
Stamboul and examine
ST. SOPHIA AND OTHER MosKs.
This magnificent Cathedral was
erected by Constantine, for Christian
worship, at very early date, A. ID.
1926, but afterwards 1t was destroyed by
fire, then again rebuilt more msgnif-
Gently than before, by Justinian, who,
after making distant regions contrib
ute the finest marbles to its structure,
and expanding immense sums in its
erection and decoration, had it con-
secrated A. d. 532.
When Constantinople was taken In
1853, by the Turks, the conqueror,
Mohammed the Second, entered the
Church of st. Sophia, according to
some authorities, where many I'M
armed Christians had taken refuge,
and slaughtered them until a pyramid
of dead was raised in the centre, up
which he climbed; and the Turks,
somewhat exultingly, show to this
day pillar on which the bloody
stains are said to be from the Sultan's
hand, aud another column having a
cash, claiming to have been produced
by cut from his unrivaled scimetar.
Others consider this apocryphal and
the Janizaries. Then the Church of
st. Sophia, was transformed into the
Mahommedan Aya Sophia, having
still on the interior vault of its mag
ni6cent dome a splendid gilt sun and
representation of the dove-like Holy
Ghost.
1t has two series of stone benched
galleries and numerous highly orna
mental columns, some of verd-an-
tidue marble, also much rich Mosaic
work on parts of the ceiling. Ore
pillar has q hole In 1t, rendered
smooth by the frequent application of
the finger to it, as cure for inhamed
eyes. A regular sermon was being
preached to small congregation in
side, while we were there, lasting over
three quarters of an hour, and in the
outer court reputed living saint was
manipulating the sick who applied to
him.
The Mosk of Achmet has six
minarets; large bronze doors. from
Byzantine times, taken from an old
Greek temple; four colossal huted
columns. not monoliths, however. bnt
hollow inside, so that pipes CONVEYING
water are led underground to them
end send it flowing into large basins.
for the purposes of religious ablution.
This is, in some respects, the finest of
Constantinople's hundred and fifty
Mosks.
We next visited the Mosk and
Tomb of Solyman the Magnif
cent, also a very fne structure,
with splendid stained windows
sent from Alexandria in Egypt.
Dec building contains on ear
petsd foor. the Sultsn's large