DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5542#0092
8-2
st a. sophia.
[Chap, xxxvi-
stantinople with despatches from Osman Pacha of Trebi-
zond, to whom he was obliged to return before he could
venture to re-enter my service; and this compelled me to
pass more time on the shores of the Bosphorus than I had
intended. In the interval I had the trood fortune to have
an opportunity of visiting the interior of the mosque of
Sta. Sophia.
The French ambassador had obtained a firmahn to visit
the principal mosques, and, with some other strangers, I
was invited to accompany the party. We assembled at
nine a.m. at the Baktchi Capou in Constantinople, and
thence proceeded in a body to Sta. Sophia. Here, in con-
formity with Mahometan prejudices, the whole party set to
work to exchange their boots and shoes for slippers and
papoushes. Wc ascended by an inclined and winding plane
to a spacious gallery, forty or fifty feet wide, which is con-
tinued round the greater part of the mosque, and is di-
vided into compartments by stone screens, the large crosses
carved upon them being still preserved. Looking into the
body of the church, I was much struck by the crooked ap-
pearance it has acquired from the attempt of the Turks to
alter the axis of the building, that it may appear to point
towards Mecca instead of due east. The steps before the
altar have been placed obliquely, as well as the carpets
spread over the floor, and even the angles of the piers and
buttresses have been cut away or added to, for the required
effect. The great supports of the roof have not suffered
by this operation, though the general appearance of the
building is much injured.
On each side of the altar in the lateral aisles are two
large granite columns, said to have been brought from
Ephesus, and in truth much resembling those lying near the
temple of Diana, and in the mosque of Aiasaluck. The many
lamps which hang down from the ceiling would, if lighted,
produce a fine effect. A few old Turks saying their prayers
seemed much scandalized at the invasion of such a horde
of giaours. Having completed our survey below, we went
st a. sophia.
[Chap, xxxvi-
stantinople with despatches from Osman Pacha of Trebi-
zond, to whom he was obliged to return before he could
venture to re-enter my service; and this compelled me to
pass more time on the shores of the Bosphorus than I had
intended. In the interval I had the trood fortune to have
an opportunity of visiting the interior of the mosque of
Sta. Sophia.
The French ambassador had obtained a firmahn to visit
the principal mosques, and, with some other strangers, I
was invited to accompany the party. We assembled at
nine a.m. at the Baktchi Capou in Constantinople, and
thence proceeded in a body to Sta. Sophia. Here, in con-
formity with Mahometan prejudices, the whole party set to
work to exchange their boots and shoes for slippers and
papoushes. Wc ascended by an inclined and winding plane
to a spacious gallery, forty or fifty feet wide, which is con-
tinued round the greater part of the mosque, and is di-
vided into compartments by stone screens, the large crosses
carved upon them being still preserved. Looking into the
body of the church, I was much struck by the crooked ap-
pearance it has acquired from the attempt of the Turks to
alter the axis of the building, that it may appear to point
towards Mecca instead of due east. The steps before the
altar have been placed obliquely, as well as the carpets
spread over the floor, and even the angles of the piers and
buttresses have been cut away or added to, for the required
effect. The great supports of the roof have not suffered
by this operation, though the general appearance of the
building is much injured.
On each side of the altar in the lateral aisles are two
large granite columns, said to have been brought from
Ephesus, and in truth much resembling those lying near the
temple of Diana, and in the mosque of Aiasaluck. The many
lamps which hang down from the ceiling would, if lighted,
produce a fine effect. A few old Turks saying their prayers
seemed much scandalized at the invasion of such a horde
of giaours. Having completed our survey below, we went