DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62355#0120
48
BEAUTIES OF THE BOSPHORUS
surmounted by a handsome cupola, gives an aspect of refreshing coolness to the
enclosure. On the left hand of the gate of entrance is situated a balcony, upon
which opens one of the windows of the mosque, whence all firmans of public
interest are read aloud to the people; and, taken altogether, whether as a public
building, as a religious monument, or as the site of stirring incident, there is no
temple in Stamboul more worthy of attention than the Imperial Mosque of
Sultan Achmet.
THE COLUMN OF MARCIAN.
There Rome's proud eagle, carved in living stone,
Is lifted to the skies, and forms the base
Ofa still prouder statue, now unknown-
Which, when first raised to its imperial place,
Had thought to make futurity its own.
MS. Poem.
The Column of Marcian stands near the gate of Adrianople, in the garden
of a Turkish house; and is a fine remain of Roman splendour. The pedestal of
the pillar is ornamented with wreaths of oak leaves; the shaft is eighty feet
in height ; and on the richly carved Corinthian capital rests a block of marble
supporting a second capital, formed by four gigantic eagles, sustaining upon
their extended wings the base of a statue now entirely destroyed. The
name of the column would infer that the missing effigy was that of the
Emperor Marcian; but many of the Greeks cling to the tradition that it was
erected in honour of one of the heathen divinities, by whose statue it was sur-
mounted : and they ascribe it indifferently to Apollo, Mercury, and Mars. By
the Turks it is called Kestachi, and valued only as a stately feature in the
landscape; although the worthy Moslem in whose garden it stands, is evidently
much gratified by the admiration it elicits from strangers. A venerable olive-
tree, whose rude and knotted trunk is in a state of picturesque decay, leans
against the slender shaft; flowers bloom at its base ; a cluster of dark cypresses,
looking, despite their great height, like mere pigmies beside this lofty monu-
ment of human art, are in its immediate vicinity ; while a small mosque, and a
modest mausoleum, peep out in the distance from among the leafy trees of
the enclosure.
BEAUTIES OF THE BOSPHORUS
surmounted by a handsome cupola, gives an aspect of refreshing coolness to the
enclosure. On the left hand of the gate of entrance is situated a balcony, upon
which opens one of the windows of the mosque, whence all firmans of public
interest are read aloud to the people; and, taken altogether, whether as a public
building, as a religious monument, or as the site of stirring incident, there is no
temple in Stamboul more worthy of attention than the Imperial Mosque of
Sultan Achmet.
THE COLUMN OF MARCIAN.
There Rome's proud eagle, carved in living stone,
Is lifted to the skies, and forms the base
Ofa still prouder statue, now unknown-
Which, when first raised to its imperial place,
Had thought to make futurity its own.
MS. Poem.
The Column of Marcian stands near the gate of Adrianople, in the garden
of a Turkish house; and is a fine remain of Roman splendour. The pedestal of
the pillar is ornamented with wreaths of oak leaves; the shaft is eighty feet
in height ; and on the richly carved Corinthian capital rests a block of marble
supporting a second capital, formed by four gigantic eagles, sustaining upon
their extended wings the base of a statue now entirely destroyed. The
name of the column would infer that the missing effigy was that of the
Emperor Marcian; but many of the Greeks cling to the tradition that it was
erected in honour of one of the heathen divinities, by whose statue it was sur-
mounted : and they ascribe it indifferently to Apollo, Mercury, and Mars. By
the Turks it is called Kestachi, and valued only as a stately feature in the
landscape; although the worthy Moslem in whose garden it stands, is evidently
much gratified by the admiration it elicits from strangers. A venerable olive-
tree, whose rude and knotted trunk is in a state of picturesque decay, leans
against the slender shaft; flowers bloom at its base ; a cluster of dark cypresses,
looking, despite their great height, like mere pigmies beside this lofty monu-
ment of human art, are in its immediate vicinity ; while a small mosque, and a
modest mausoleum, peep out in the distance from among the leafy trees of
the enclosure.