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VIEWS FROM A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD
#9 - CONSTANTINOPLE, TURKEY
Size: 3" x 5"
Copyrighted: 1891
Lithographer: Joseph P. Knapp
Illustrations: Street Scene; View of Constantinople; Sophia Church; On the Bosphorus
Reverse - Text |
Left section:
GRIND
YOUR COFFEE AT HOME
Right section: |
CONSTANTINOPLE, TURKEY. |
The location of this
city--on a triangular strip of
land on the west side of the
southern entrance to the
Bosphorus--is one of the finest
in the world. An arm of the
Bosphorus runs up the northern
side of the city, forming a
magnificent harbor called the
Golden Horn, whose surface and
depth can float over a thousand
ships of the line. The walls of
the city are of varied style,
representing different and
distinct epochs, some of them
built fifteen centuries ago.
Their entire circuit is about 13
miles. There are now but 7 of the
original 43 gates. The approach
to the city is very beautiful,
displaying its mass of domes and
minarets, backed by the dark
Turkish Cypress of the cemeteries
beyond. But the interior is
repulsive with its steep-winding
and ill-kept streets. |
The
Seraglio, built by Mohammed II,
is triangular and nearly three
miles in circumference, shut in
by lofty walls and towers, its
interior a confused mass of
buildings erected at different
periods by the various Sultans. |
The
most ancient Mosque is that of
St. Sophia, commenced in the year
531 by the Emperor Justinian. Its
erection required seven and a
half years at fabulous cost. Its
form is that of a Greek cross,
270 feet long by 243 wide,
surmounted by a dome whose centre
is 180 feet from the floor. Ten
thousand workmen were employed
under the supervision of one
hundred master builders, and when
completed cost five million
dollars. |
Two
bridges of boats span the Golden
Horn, uniting Galata to Stamboul,
and a system of some 80,000
wherries ply on the waters,
elegant in shape and very swift. |
The
vast forests of cypress skirting
the city were planted from a
belief that they could neutralize
noxious exhalations from the
cemeteries. |
Population 1885 873 565. |
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