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| Title | Constantinople and the scenery of the seven churches of Asia Minor |
| Creator (LCNAF) |
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| Contributor (Local) |
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| Publisher | Fisher, Son, & Co. |
| Date | 1838 |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Extent | 92 plates |
| Original Item Location | DR 427 .A44 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b1817693~S11 |
| Digital Collection | Exotic Impressions: Views of Foreign Lands |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/exotic |
| Repository | Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/william-r-jenkins-architecture-art-library |
| Use and Reproduction | No Copyright - United States |
| Identifier | exotic_201304_011 |
| Title | Page 23 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | exotic_201304_011_076.jpg |
| Transcript | WITH, THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR. 23 While used as this extraordinary prison, the strangest tales of mystery were whispered about, and are still told to visitors. A cavity is shown, called " the well of blood," which imagination still pictures as overflowing with human gore, and its stained and darkened sides countenance the tradition. In another place is " the cavern of the rock," where confession was extorted from the unhappy prisoners. A number of low arches are also pointed out, into which the wretched victims were compelled to force themselves, too low to admit their bodies through the aperture, and from whence they could not again extract them—and there they were left to perish with hunger. Places, too, are still shown, where skulls were piled so high as to rise above the surrounding walls. The towers were originally seven in number, but are now reduced to four. Three of them were thrown down by the great earthquake in 1786. They were never rebuilt by the Turks; yet they still call them "yedde-kule," or the seven towers. The buildings themselves are exceedingly unsightly. They are octagonal with conical roofs. The most conspicuous, represented in the illustration, was somewhat of a better order. It is that in which the foreign ambassadors were confined, and the apartments assigned to them were not very inconvenient. Connected with this edifice was the celebrated " Chrysopule," or golden gate, so renowned for its splendour under the Greek empire. It opened into the area, and was one of the entrances to the Seven Towers. It was covered with some beautiful sculptures in basso-relievo, which were considered chef-d'ceuvres of art, and among them Venus holding her torch over the sleeping Adonis, to examine his beauties. Its position is on the right of the illustration. In the distance is the romantic archipelago of the Princes' Islands, on one side, and on the other, the promontory of Scutari. PETIT CHAMP DES MORTS. FROM THE HEIGHTS OF PERA. It is remarked by travellers, that the Turks pay more attention to the accommodation of the dead than of the living; and hence the number and extent of the places they provide for their reception. Their city is scarcely approached at any side but through receptacles for the dead. Besides the vast cemetery at Scutari, there are several beyond the walls of Constantinople ; and two, of great extent, on the peninsula of Pera. The first object of a Turk's attention, in forming a cemetery, is a beautiful site ; hence they all occupy positions commanding the best prospect, either of the Bosphorus or the Golden Horn. The isthmus which connects Pera with the country, is entirely covered with tombs, where Greeks, Armenians, Franks, and Turks repose in their respective burying-grounds, which are but continuations one of the other. The Jews alone preserve their exclusive character, |