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74 CONSTANTINOPLE AND ITS ENVIRONS,'
SULTAN SELIM'S PALACE AT SCUTARI.
On the eastern mouth of the Bosphorus, opposite Constantinople, and, like it, rising
from the waters up an inclined plane, stands the large town of Scutari, associated
with many historic and classic recollections. When the Persian armies carried ruin to the
Greek colonies on the Asiatic coast, and prepared to add Europe to their conquests, they
formed a depot on a promontory at the mouth of the Bosphorus, of all their rich
plunder; and so great was the accumulation of wealth of all kinds in this place, that
the town built on the spot was called Chrysopolis, or " the City of Gold.'' The point
of the promontory was named Bous, or " The Ox," from a tradition that it was here
that Io landed in the shape of a cow, when she swam across the strait to escape the
persecutions of Juno. It was just under this promontory that the Athenians defeated
the fleets of Philip of Macedon, when he laid siege to Byzantium. It was here that
Licinius, the brother-in-law of Constantine, was taken prisoner, and afterwards beheaded,
which gave the undivided empire of the East to Constantine, and enabled him to build
his new and splendid city on the opposite promontory, when he had rid himself of his
last rival; and, finally, it was here the crusaders first contemplated it, indulged in their
visions of rapacity, and conceived the project of plundering this capital of their fellow-
christians.
The Turks call it Scodra, or Scutari, and consider it a suburb of Constantinople,
though on the opposite side of the straits, and in another quarter of the world. The
beauty and salubrity of its situation have rendered it a favourite residence. The streets
are wider, the open areas more spacious, and the houses better built than in the capital;
and the prospect, as you climb the hills above, is exceedingly beautiful. In the ascent
to the hill of Bourgourlon, you arrive at a plateau, celebrated for the richness of the
scenery it affords. Mount Olympus, the Princes' Islands, the winding strait of the
Bosphorus with its bays and villages, appear with singular beauty from this spot;
while the fragrance exhaled from the gardens, and the chant of the nightingale, afford
a gratification to every sense. Beside it is a valley called Bulbul Dereci, or " the
Vale of the Nightingale," where these birds abound, and their song is heard all day.
When a public functionary is deprived of his office, and suffered to retain his life, he
retires to Scutari, and seeks solace in its soothing enjoyments. The Persian ambassador and his suite, excluded, like the Franks, from Constantinople, here take up their
abode. With the exception of a few Jews, it is exclusively a Mohammedan city, and
contains eighty thousand Moslem inhabitants.
It is distinguished by many edifices of piety or utility. Here the daughter of
Soliman the Magnificent erected a mosque to the memory of her father; and an
inscription recording the circumstance, represents her as " the gem of the world," and |
