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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 75 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | exotic_201304_011_157.jpg |
| Transcript | WITH THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR. 75 prays that "Allah would render her excellent in every other qualification." Here Selim established his printing-press, when he revived it, to enlighten his subjects: here he erected a magnificent cotton-factory, to improve them in the industry and arts of life: here he built a noble kisla, or barrack, for his nizam djeddit, or new troops, to discipline a rude and turbulent rabble to European restraints: and here he endowed a mosque, to which he usually repaired to perform his Friday's devotion. This edifice, given in our illustration, stands on the slope of the hill, surrounded by an extensive area, and exhibits considerable lightness and elegance. Among the group of Turks is seen some in the costume of European soldiers; which he lost his crown and life in endeavouring to establish, though his more energetic successor completely succeeded. The violence and impetuosity of one of those sudden currents of air which burst out in the Sea of Marmora, was strongly marked by its effects on this mosque. The principal minaret was snapped off like the stem of a pipe, and the upper part uas carried unbroken to a distance. MOSQUE OF MAHMOUD II. AT TOPHANA. This beautiful but small imperial mosque of the reigning sultan, is situated not on a conspicuous eminence like those of his predecessors, but in the low alluvial ground on the shores of the Bosphorus, and on the water's edge; but the beauty and finish of the edifice compensate for the defects of its site. All the skill of Oriental ornament is expended upon it. Rich lattice-work and taper spires of minarets highly gilded, glitter in the sun with a brilliancy and recency, as if they had been left just finished by the hands of the artisans ; while painting and sculpture, in rich arabesque, give a peculiar elegance to the edifice. It is entered by a lofty approach of marble steps, and it is distinguished by a separate and detached spire, not a minaret, but intended for a use which modern improvement and approximation to European arts have lately introduced. The Turks abhorred the sound of a bell in any form, and inhibit its use even to the franks in assembling their congregations for divine service. They could not be induced to erect a public clock in the capital,* and it was supposed, some years ago, that there were but two in the Turkish empire of Europe—one in the town of Shumla, erected by a minister who brought it from Russia, where he had been on a mission, had learned its use, and conferred it as a benefit on his native town ; the other was bestowed on Athens, while under the dominion of the Turks, by Lord Elgin, as a compensation for his abduction of the marbles of the Parthenon. The present sultan, however, among his improvements, has erected a steeple in his temple for a clock, that the muezzim may be directed with more certainty in calling the faithful to prayer: and it is probable that, in a few years, the more effectual sound of the prohibited bell will be substituted for the human voice. * Horologiain publico haberent nondura sdduci potuerunt.—B( s |