Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-03-28

eastern road to Constantinople, i'm
posed on the Turks the duty OF CON
structing the elaborate system of for
tifcations facing the Bulgarian from
tier which offered such prolonged re
forts have been erected.
The hills to the west, north and
northeast of the city are strongly for
tilted and render the approach from
these directions the most difficult for
an enemy On every point Of vantage
forts have ben erected.
Even under the old regime the forts
were kept in a tolerable state Of read
mess. but after the advent of the
Young Turks in 1908 effective meas
Wes were taken 10 mOuernlze and
strengthen the defenses.
II was in the neighborhood Of Abr.
auople that in 2-G Constantine TIL
Great defeated his rival, Licinius, ana
and that So years latter the Nisigotht
routed the Emperor Nalens and de
s;royed the city.
There too. in 1905 Baldwin, the Lat
in emperor of Constantinople, was de.
feated and made prisoner by the Bul.
garian car, Kaloyan, who afterward
Tu- him 10 death.
IN 1851 the city was besieged an.
taken by NUrad /, and from 1865 unit.
the fall Of Constanuinop-e in 1888 the
city remained the capital Of the sui
tans.
The ruins of the Esd Serai, TO the
. north of the city. are one of the few
surviving memorials Of this era.
II was not until the 10th century
| thai the great mosque of Sultan Selim
/ IT, the glory of the city and one of the
/ masterpieces Of Turkish architecture,
. was erected.
] The mosque itself. with rs colon.
! made Of marble and granite monolfrhs.
which are believed 10 be the remains
Of Roman buildings. is crowned with
a cUpola Of dimensions almost equal
10 that Of the Saint Sophia at Ccnstan.
tmople. and fanked by four slender.
fUted minaTets nearly 200 feet high
+ The cupOla is supported by four mas
/ sive porphyry pillars. but the span Of
the dome IS so vast that its expanse
. seems 70 he suspended in midafr.
/ The Ttsh Sheriff. Diana. another
/ GuadFuple-minareted MOSQUE. was
used by the Turks as a depot for mill
/ tery stores. Another mosque. that OF
I NdIad ", likewise with four minarets.
! the Bayazid mosque at Nilderim. with
3 q fine Cupola. and the Nuradieh. built
by MuTad J., 90 back TO the palmy DAYS
! Of the city.
! The old palace Of the sultans also
built by Nurad / in the 14th century.
in which Charles MI. Of Sweden was
confined for a time after the battle of
/ PoItava in 1902, was blown up by the
. Turks themselves in 1878 before the
entry of the Russians who. when Field
Marshal Diebitch-Ssbalkansk Captur-
ed the city in 1929. had done nothing 10
provoke this breach of trust 10 pos.
teriry.
. The picturesque dignity which these
historic buildings impart TO the city
" hen viewed at a distance is belied ar
close quarters by its mean streets and
tumble-down. wooden houses
The greater part OF the eastern quar-
tor Of The town was burned iu 1905 and
fs2 not been restored before the war
broke out
Viewed from the railway station the
city lies 10 the northeast. with the
great mosque rising in the background
as its most prominent feature. Group
q about it are the Greek cathedral.
\ tie cOlonnaded bazaar Of Ali Pashs.
/ tho palace or the local governo~ and
! ether administrative buildings. the In