Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-06-05
ROOMS FULL OF GEMS.
William e. Curtis Tells of the Jewels
Owned by the Sultan of Turkey.

Owned by the Sultan of Turkey.
CONSTANTINOPLE April 6.--Peo
pie who have read fanciful descrip
tions of Constantinople penned bv no
cts, artists and other sentimentalists
like D'Amici for example. who are
apt to see more than appears to or.
dinarv eyes. have an impression that
the Seraglio of the sultan is nal.
ace of mysterious seclusion: that n
has something to do with the harem
and other private affairs of his i'm.
nerial majesty. | supposed so until
came to Constantlnople. hut II is
nothing Of the sort Literally a so
rarlio means nortico or vestlbule
surrounding apv hahltation palace
kiosk or MOSQUE but the term is com.
monty used as collective noun and
r"fers fo n collection of buildings used
for different pnrnoses such as the
| "ns'dence of nasha his harem his
offices. his stables and the mosnue
that is attached TO oil Of the large as-
Itah''shments in Turkey.
| The SeraoIio Of the Sultan Is n
'ar"e collection of buildings enclosed
h" mighty wall covering the ex.
freme noint Of the peninsu,a upon
which Stambou1 stands and divfdinr
the Sea Of Narmora from the Gold.
on Horn.
In It's geographical association II
"orresponds to Ratterv Part, Nou,
| work.. and Is the most conspIcuoiIs oh
'"cf one sees upon anproaching the
| city and the last npon which the eve
vests when taking the departure II
's also the most interesting point I'm
1"h Turkey from historical stand
no'nt There 's no place in the East
evoant the HoIv Land which has so
'nanv associations II Is TO Constan.
l"on'" what the Krepslin Is to Mos
"ow. the Escurial to Madrid. the Pots.
dam to Berlin Versailles to Paris
onh nerhaps we NAV compare it with
HAMPTON Court near London.
The garden of the Seraglio was the
Acropolis of the original city. the site
of the "palatium sacrum" of Constan
tine. the citadel of his successors
the palace of Justinian and Placidia
queen of the Goths Few spots on
earth have had longer or more trag.
ic history. From the gardens of the
Seraglio sailed the fleets of the Phoe.
nicians. the war barges of the Ro.
mans, the triremes from Asia, the
ealleys of Darius the Persian, OF
Xerxes of Alexander the Great, Phil.
ip of Macedon, and | would not be
surprised if Aggememnon, Ajax. Achil
les and those bold old warriors and
landed there many a time The
! Silded barges of Venice and Genoa
brought their soldiers here and from
that landing place carried away mil.
lions of plunder, The feet of the
Crusaders trod the gravel walks,
Richard the Lion-Heart, Godfrey de
Bouillon, and the Frank emperors
made it their headquarters in the
time of the crusades. Since the oc,
cupation of Constantinople by the
Turks, the resplendent caiques of the
sultans have come and gone, some
of them bearing candidates for unea
sy thrones and others. desperate crea
be death.
From the time of Mohamed II, who
took Constantinople by storm in 1853
to Abdu Medjid in 1864, who desert
ed it for the more cheerful palace OF
Dolma Bajtche on the banks of the
Bosphorus, twenty-five sultans have
been imprisoned or murdered, or died
by violence within the palaces of the
Seraglio. For four hundred years
the fate of the sovereigns of Turkey
was subject to the caprice of the all
powerful ,Janissaries, who made II
their headquarters. Up to the be
ginning of the last century It was the
fashion for the Janissaries TO decap
itate unpopular sultans and minis
tiers and expose their heads upon the
pillars of the gate In order that the
public might know what had happen
ed. Two inches on either side oi
the Sublime Porte, which is the main
gateway to the Seraglio. were made
for that purpose Sometimes, how
ever, as a special mark of vengeance
or honor, the heads were placed, like
that of John the Baptist, upon sill
Iver charger and left outside where
the public could examine them close
lily.
Over the Sublime Porte stately
arch with ponderous gates, is an Ar
abic inscription reading. May Allaf
ever preserve the glory of the pos
SCISSOR; may Allah ever strengthen
his foundations"
In the first large court, known al
the court of the Janissares. Is ar
enormous tree called by their name
under which they were in the habi
of Matching their conspiracies. Il
is said to be the largest tree in Eu
rope. and two stunted columns unde
its far spreading branches once serv
ed as a guillotine. There are man!
buildings within the walls in addition
to the palaces, the harem. the bar
racks of the soldiers and those use,
for official purposes. The mint II
there. the arsenal. magazines for th'
storage of explosives, hospital, tn,
imperial stables. quarters for an ar