DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5504#0024
118 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land,
We were in sight of Tcnedos. An attempt was made to
ply up to the eastward of Metelina, the ancient Lesbos, hut
the wind having become scanty near Cape Baba, we were
under the necessity of passing without the island. Notwith-
standing a severe squall, which had like to have driven the brig
on the rocks of Carabournou, we succeeded in entering the
port of Smyrna on the morning of Sunday the 20th of October.
I found my old companion, M. Huyot, in a very enfeebled
state, but recovering from the effects of an accident. He had
resided two months at the convent of the missions, where the
reverend fathers had watched over him with the most tender
solicitude. The tranquillity these good monks enjoy is a proof,
among many others which might be adduced, of the toleration
of the Turks of Smyrna. The Catholic church is very 'capa-
cious and richly ornamented; the doors are constantly open ;
and the true believers, resident in the bazars, hear without in-
dignation the psalmodies of the Christians. Interments, pre-
ceded by a cross, oftentimes fall in with the obsequies of a
Musulman; the baptisms and marriages of the Greeks and
Latins have to encounter the train of a circumcision ; and the
gilt cope of the priest comes in peaceable contact, in the street,
with the beniche of an Osmanli, or the veil of a Turkish
lady.
The spirit of commerce which prevails in the city of Smyrna
thus softens down asperities, and brings together men of every
sect and persuasion. This great factory presents unceasingly
a mixture of European manners and oriental customs: lovely
females, tastefully dressed in the French style, are to be seen
passing, with nimble steps, through a long file of camels be-
longing to a caravan of Seyde, or of Damascus.
Greek ladies, seated at their windows, engage in a lively
conversation with the passengers beneath, while others amuse
themselves with dancing in groups in returning from the
baths, or repair in parties to the delightful plains of Bourna-
bat—all feel the influence of a fine climate, that of smiling and
voluptuous Ionia.
The theatre of the ancient city of Smyrna stood on a sloping
hill. From the banks on which the spectators were seated ,the
view commanded the city and gulf. Vestiges of the proscenium,
the form of which is pretty accurately defined, still remain.
Smyrna is said to have been founded either by Alexander,
or by Lysimachus: a colony brought from Ephesus bestowed on
the new city the name of a quarter of the metropolis.
The chateau, built on the summit of a mountain, has
nearly fallen to ruins : a janissary is at the same time the com-
mandant and the garrison. He was laboriously employed in
We were in sight of Tcnedos. An attempt was made to
ply up to the eastward of Metelina, the ancient Lesbos, hut
the wind having become scanty near Cape Baba, we were
under the necessity of passing without the island. Notwith-
standing a severe squall, which had like to have driven the brig
on the rocks of Carabournou, we succeeded in entering the
port of Smyrna on the morning of Sunday the 20th of October.
I found my old companion, M. Huyot, in a very enfeebled
state, but recovering from the effects of an accident. He had
resided two months at the convent of the missions, where the
reverend fathers had watched over him with the most tender
solicitude. The tranquillity these good monks enjoy is a proof,
among many others which might be adduced, of the toleration
of the Turks of Smyrna. The Catholic church is very 'capa-
cious and richly ornamented; the doors are constantly open ;
and the true believers, resident in the bazars, hear without in-
dignation the psalmodies of the Christians. Interments, pre-
ceded by a cross, oftentimes fall in with the obsequies of a
Musulman; the baptisms and marriages of the Greeks and
Latins have to encounter the train of a circumcision ; and the
gilt cope of the priest comes in peaceable contact, in the street,
with the beniche of an Osmanli, or the veil of a Turkish
lady.
The spirit of commerce which prevails in the city of Smyrna
thus softens down asperities, and brings together men of every
sect and persuasion. This great factory presents unceasingly
a mixture of European manners and oriental customs: lovely
females, tastefully dressed in the French style, are to be seen
passing, with nimble steps, through a long file of camels be-
longing to a caravan of Seyde, or of Damascus.
Greek ladies, seated at their windows, engage in a lively
conversation with the passengers beneath, while others amuse
themselves with dancing in groups in returning from the
baths, or repair in parties to the delightful plains of Bourna-
bat—all feel the influence of a fine climate, that of smiling and
voluptuous Ionia.
The theatre of the ancient city of Smyrna stood on a sloping
hill. From the banks on which the spectators were seated ,the
view commanded the city and gulf. Vestiges of the proscenium,
the form of which is pretty accurately defined, still remain.
Smyrna is said to have been founded either by Alexander,
or by Lysimachus: a colony brought from Ephesus bestowed on
the new city the name of a quarter of the metropolis.
The chateau, built on the summit of a mountain, has
nearly fallen to ruins : a janissary is at the same time the com-
mandant and the garrison. He was laboriously employed in