DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62355#0072
26
BEAUTIES OF THE BOSPHORUS.
of white marble, overshadowed by one of those enormous plane-trees which defy
all calculation of their age, and seem each a mimic forest in themselves. Clusters
of the rare and beautiful purple lily, grow, as it were, out of the foundation
of the edifice, and intrude their imperial blossoms within the sculptured
screen that protects the arched colonnade by which it is surrounded. The
whole exterior of the tomb is graceful and attractive ; and it looks rather like
a temple dedicated to cheerfulness, than a shrine for the ashes of the dead.
The sunshine struggles through the fresh green leaves of the giant-tree, and
falls flickeringly upon the marble steps, painting them with a thousand fantastic
figures; and the blue doves which nestle amid its branches fill the air with their
soft cooings, destroying the deep silence of the sacred spot. Altogether, the
Mausoleum of the magnificent Solyman conveys no idea of death and the grave,
nor is it forced upon you even when you step across the threshold on to the
richly carpeted floor, and see before you the sarcophagi of the imperial founder
of the building, of his successor, of Sultan Akhmet, and of the two daughters
of Solyman. Those of the Sultan's are surmounted by lofty and curiously
folded turbans of white muslin, decorated with aigrettes; while those of the
princesses are simply covered with shawls of green cashmere, much dilapidated
by time. On a stand near the entrance, rests an admirable model of the Mosque
at Mecca, and the Prophet's tomb, with parties of pilgrims on their way to and
from the holy city; it is well executed, and bears an appearance of great
accuracy.
A few paces from the resting-place of Solyman is that of his favourite wife,
the far-famed and tiger-hearted Roxalana, who, in the feelings of the mother,
suffered those of the woman to be extinguished, and turned the holiest of virtues
into crime. She also rests under a dome of marble, and her sarcophagus is
overlaid with costly shawls. The same plane-tree darkens over the two tombs,
but the vermilion patches flung by the painted windows on the bier of the
inexorable Roxalana, seem like records of the innocent blood shed to feed her
ambition. Not satisfied with the proud distinction of having given birth to the
Sultan's eldest son, and of seeing the bitter tears wept over his grave by Solyman,
who, to mark his grief for the untimely death of the ill-fated Mahomet, released
a number of slaves on the day of his burial, that they might ever look back with
veneration to his memory; the renegade Sultana, false alike to her God and to
her sex, excited the infatuated sovereign to murder Mustapha, another of his
sons by a rival beauty. Heavy accusations, laid by a reckless enemy, who pos-
sessed the ear and perverted the judgment of Solyman, were all-sufficient to secure
the rum of the young and high-hearted Mustapha; who, moreover, when
BEAUTIES OF THE BOSPHORUS.
of white marble, overshadowed by one of those enormous plane-trees which defy
all calculation of their age, and seem each a mimic forest in themselves. Clusters
of the rare and beautiful purple lily, grow, as it were, out of the foundation
of the edifice, and intrude their imperial blossoms within the sculptured
screen that protects the arched colonnade by which it is surrounded. The
whole exterior of the tomb is graceful and attractive ; and it looks rather like
a temple dedicated to cheerfulness, than a shrine for the ashes of the dead.
The sunshine struggles through the fresh green leaves of the giant-tree, and
falls flickeringly upon the marble steps, painting them with a thousand fantastic
figures; and the blue doves which nestle amid its branches fill the air with their
soft cooings, destroying the deep silence of the sacred spot. Altogether, the
Mausoleum of the magnificent Solyman conveys no idea of death and the grave,
nor is it forced upon you even when you step across the threshold on to the
richly carpeted floor, and see before you the sarcophagi of the imperial founder
of the building, of his successor, of Sultan Akhmet, and of the two daughters
of Solyman. Those of the Sultan's are surmounted by lofty and curiously
folded turbans of white muslin, decorated with aigrettes; while those of the
princesses are simply covered with shawls of green cashmere, much dilapidated
by time. On a stand near the entrance, rests an admirable model of the Mosque
at Mecca, and the Prophet's tomb, with parties of pilgrims on their way to and
from the holy city; it is well executed, and bears an appearance of great
accuracy.
A few paces from the resting-place of Solyman is that of his favourite wife,
the far-famed and tiger-hearted Roxalana, who, in the feelings of the mother,
suffered those of the woman to be extinguished, and turned the holiest of virtues
into crime. She also rests under a dome of marble, and her sarcophagus is
overlaid with costly shawls. The same plane-tree darkens over the two tombs,
but the vermilion patches flung by the painted windows on the bier of the
inexorable Roxalana, seem like records of the innocent blood shed to feed her
ambition. Not satisfied with the proud distinction of having given birth to the
Sultan's eldest son, and of seeing the bitter tears wept over his grave by Solyman,
who, to mark his grief for the untimely death of the ill-fated Mahomet, released
a number of slaves on the day of his burial, that they might ever look back with
veneration to his memory; the renegade Sultana, false alike to her God and to
her sex, excited the infatuated sovereign to murder Mustapha, another of his
sons by a rival beauty. Heavy accusations, laid by a reckless enemy, who pos-
sessed the ear and perverted the judgment of Solyman, were all-sufficient to secure
the rum of the young and high-hearted Mustapha; who, moreover, when