DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0099
Chap, v.]
BRUSA.
71
After crossing the river, our course changed from south
to east by south, when we had a range of low grassy hills on
our right, studded with small oaks, wild almond, and wild
pear-trees. Two miles beyond the river, on the summit of
this range, we passed the village of Balat Kieui on our
right, and descended upon a wild and undulating plain pro-
ducing nothing but oak-coppice and thorns. The town of
Brusa was here first visible, bearing S.E., with the mag-
nificent snow-capped mass of the Mysian Olympus rising
immediately behind it.
After again crossing the Nilufer flowing from the moun-
tains to the S.W. into the plain of Brusa, we observed
many copious streams of water on our right; and within
half a mile of the town passed the hot-springs which have
acquired so much celebrity. So great an amount of sedi-
ment has been deposited by these springs that they have
formed a long range of low travertine hills, resting against
the foot of the more ancient rocks which form the mountain
chain.
No town in Asiatic Turkey is more celebrated, or more
justly so, for its picturesque situation and appearance than
Brusa. Situated at the southern edge of a rich and
well-cultivated plain, covered with gardens and mulberry
plantations, its buildings extend some way up the steep
and rocky hills which rise immediately behind it. Thick
overhanging woods begin directly above the town, while
many trees, principally the tall cypress, rise up in and
about it, interspersed with numerous graceful minarets and
glittering domes. To complete the picture, a flat table-land,
standing out a little in advance of the hills, rises up in the
middle of the town, the precipitous cliffs of which are sur-
mounted with the ivy-clad walls and towers of a castle of
an early age, dating probably from the time when Brusa
was the capital of the Turkish empire. Such a scene,
on a sunny day, when every tree and flower was putting
forth its first shoots and buds, backed by the range of
BRUSA.
71
After crossing the river, our course changed from south
to east by south, when we had a range of low grassy hills on
our right, studded with small oaks, wild almond, and wild
pear-trees. Two miles beyond the river, on the summit of
this range, we passed the village of Balat Kieui on our
right, and descended upon a wild and undulating plain pro-
ducing nothing but oak-coppice and thorns. The town of
Brusa was here first visible, bearing S.E., with the mag-
nificent snow-capped mass of the Mysian Olympus rising
immediately behind it.
After again crossing the Nilufer flowing from the moun-
tains to the S.W. into the plain of Brusa, we observed
many copious streams of water on our right; and within
half a mile of the town passed the hot-springs which have
acquired so much celebrity. So great an amount of sedi-
ment has been deposited by these springs that they have
formed a long range of low travertine hills, resting against
the foot of the more ancient rocks which form the mountain
chain.
No town in Asiatic Turkey is more celebrated, or more
justly so, for its picturesque situation and appearance than
Brusa. Situated at the southern edge of a rich and
well-cultivated plain, covered with gardens and mulberry
plantations, its buildings extend some way up the steep
and rocky hills which rise immediately behind it. Thick
overhanging woods begin directly above the town, while
many trees, principally the tall cypress, rise up in and
about it, interspersed with numerous graceful minarets and
glittering domes. To complete the picture, a flat table-land,
standing out a little in advance of the hills, rises up in the
middle of the town, the precipitous cliffs of which are sur-
mounted with the ivy-clad walls and towers of a castle of
an early age, dating probably from the time when Brusa
was the capital of the Turkish empire. Such a scene,
on a sunny day, when every tree and flower was putting
forth its first shoots and buds, backed by the range of