Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-05-07
The Turkish Capital.

I C1 anu 1oi1. 4hAOa6a
maze of windings which seem plsnnet
so as to show off to advantage tn,
splendors Of both banks it mesnderl
between hills sometimes surmounted by
fortresses and batteries of cannon
sometimes covered with country houses
and pa,aces. Ga the right are the fort
ress of Mahomet the Second, r Dumel
Issar, and the delicious Cults of Buy
ukdere and Therapia, the favorite resi-
dence of the rich Greek and Armenian
ambassadors and merchants; on the LET
the picturesque towers Of Anaroli Issal
and the palace of Berheybey. But be
hold now appeared Stamboul, a pro.
moutory iutting out ike headland be
tween the Sea of Marmora and the
Golden Horn, Stamboul with the I'm
posing dome OF st. Sophia with its Iuin
srets and mosques; then Scutari, on the
Aslatic coast; Pera ahd Galata on the
European side; all gIIttering like gold
III the glorious sunlight. A forest oi
masts fills the Golden Horn; steam.
boats, barges and skiffs go to and frC
between Europe and Asia. 1t Is, says
Mgr. Mislin, the most magnificent sigh
in the world.
We were at Constantinople! But how
suddenly the enchantment OF the Bos-
porus fades away. Constantinople ID az
ugly within as it appears picturesque
aud beautiful from without, We crossed
the quarter of Galata to reach Pera,
and such roads as We had to traverse,
dirty, crooked. full of holes, without
pavement, crowded with hsamals OF
porters, who iostle you; men carrying
leather bottles full of water, who splash
you all over ii you don't take care;
do2keys laden with boards or bars oi
iron, which they drag along the ground
like harrow, for here trucks and carts
are unknown. But what strikes one
the most is the number of dogs lying CT
running about the roads, and the
groups OF dirty, ragged Turks stretched
In the shade on the footpath, smoking
narghiii, devourIng watermelons or
playing at draughts and dominOes, when
they are not sleeping.
From the top OF the tower Of Galata,
which is very high, one can take IL at
a glance the whole extent of COnstan-
tinople, or rather the three towns which
together form that Incompatible capital
OF the Sultans. First OF all, on the
west, almost at your feet, and separated
only by the Golden Horn, is Stamboul,
the ancient ByzantIum OF the Greeks,
the new Rome of the Enperors, the
bulwark of Islam. Stamooll has the
form of an immense triangle. Its base,
lNrr of hn
Towers aud triple line OF ramparts,
offered on the side of the mainland q
formidable barrier, which, however, was
not sufficient to check Mahomet the
Second, the Conqueror. An inclosure
CT walls protected the two other sides
OF the triangle, although they had q
natural defense in the Propontis on the
right and al arm of the Golden Il )rn
on the left. The point sinks into the
waters OF the Bosporus-it Is what one
sees first. 1t Is here, at the point OF
Stamboul, that the famous palace of the
Emperors, aud later ON the seraglio of
the Sultans, stood. OF this seraglio,
destroyed by ire, there remain only a
few ruins, closed to the traveller. st.
Sophia sdioiued the seraglio; the cele-
brated hlppodrome completed the spot
where tine fate of the Eastern Empire
was so often decided. Stamooul is the
centre and the home of IsIamism. 1t
is here the Mahometans have, SO to say,
concentrated tlelr forces, their richess
and their giory. No Christian lives In
StambOul.
StambOui presents the best aspect one
can have of Constantlnope. 1t contains
the highest mosques with their innumer
able minarets. A little to the right
rises the high tower of Seras- -Kierat; at
its base are the palaces OF the Ministers
of Finance and War; beneath, to the
lett, the bazars with their low cupolas.
In the distance the residence OF the
Patriarch of the Greek schism ltic5 and
the ruins of the ancient and famous
castle IF the Blacquernal Scutari, to
the east, on the coast of Asia, rises like
an amphitheatsr, and numbers already
fifty thousand inhabitants. The cele-
GRATED cemetery. called by the Turks
the "Holy Ground" because it was the
spot whence Isiamism was to have
spread over Europe, is one of the chief
obi ects of interest in Scutari. The
Turks consider 1t a great honor 20 be
buried In this Gem etery, which covers q
square mile of land, and whose expresses
appear In the distance like a forest OF
verdure. One OF the finest monuments
covers the spot where Mahonet's horse
was buried.
Until 1453 st. Sophia was one of the
greatest glorIes of Christianity. but at
the taking of ConstantInople by the
Turks, Mahonet the Conqueror, riding
INTO the sacred edifics and leaping onto
the altar steps, ex claimed: ''There is no
God but God, and Mahomet Is his pro-
phet." His words were the signal of
Ali the Christians who
had taken refuge IN the Temple were
its treasures were pillaged,
the Cross was overthrown, and st.
Sophia, desecrated and stripped of its
glory, was transformed into house of
Islam, the succursaie of Mecca. The
exterior of st. Sophia is disfgured by
the clumsy-looking buttresses which
support the dome. But the moment
one enters the building, after having
the immense outer court
which surrounds 1t, one Is lost In ad-
miraton at the majesty and grandeur Of
the place. To me it seemed even more |
imposing than st. Peters at Rome.
The reason is that st. Peters, like all |
great cathedrals, has the form of a
Latin cross. The first thing one sees Is |
me long nave; the dome is approached |
gradually, and one Is more or less pre-
pared Tor it by the wonderful p p.rspec-
i've of the convergIng aisles. In st. |
sophia, on the Contrary, which is q |
type OF the Greek cross, at the first
'Iep you find yourself beneath the |
gigantic cupoia, and suddenly over
by its majestic proportions.
1t would require volumes to describe |
.he plan of TINS work of art, and to |
snumerate its marvellous perfectlons. |
5ufh 70 it to say that the interior was |
adorned with beautiful mosaIcs on a
gold ground. representing subjects from
he Old and New Tsstamsnts, out as
he Koran fo.b.ds the painting of human
igures, the Tdrks have pastered over
.he vault of the cupola and painted
stars on it. But, in spite OF the layer
Of plaster, one can still distinguish
upon one arch the image OF the DiyIne