DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62355#0139
BEGLIER BEY.
57
BEGLIER BEY.
-" The coast
Lay at tnis period quiet as the sky,
The sands untumbled, the blue waves untoss'd,
And all was stillness, save the sea-bird's cry,
And dolphin's leap, and little billow cross'd
By some low rock or shelve that made it fret,
Against the boundary it scarcely wet."
*****
" Mother-of-pearl, and porphyry, and marble,
Vied with each other on this costly spot;
And singing birds without were heard to warble;
And the stain'd glass which lighted this fair grot
Varied each ray." Byron.
The Sultan's summer-palace of Beglier Bey, on the Asiatic shore, is the most
elegant object on the Bosphorus. It is an irregularly fronted and extensive
edifice, stretching along the lip of the channel, whose waves wash its long and
stately terraces of glittering marble, and sometimes penetrate into their latticed
and mysterious recesses. The building is of wood; and the harem presents a
line of gables perforated with long ranges of windows secured by most minute
screens of gilded wood: the Salemliek, containing the State apartments, the
private saloons of the Sultan, and the rooms occupied by the Imperial household,
is an octagonal pile, of which the pointed roof is surmounted by a crescent
supporting a star, whose richly gilded points flash in the sunshine like lambent
fire. The entire building is painted in white and pale gold; and it has rather
the appearance of a fairy-palace, called into existence by enchantment, than the
mere every-day work of human hands.
A marble gate, terminating the terrace in the direction of the city, admits the
visitor into a garden bright with flowers, and redolent of perfume; where foun-
tains for ever fling their delicate jets of water against the sky, with a soft and
soothing music well suited to the spot; and where birds of gorgeous plumage
wander at will, as rainbow-tinted as the blossoms amid which they sport. A line
of gilt lattices veils the seaward boundary of this delicious retreat; and, passing
beside these, an inlaid door of stately proportions gives admittance to the Hall of
Entrance.
57
BEGLIER BEY.
-" The coast
Lay at tnis period quiet as the sky,
The sands untumbled, the blue waves untoss'd,
And all was stillness, save the sea-bird's cry,
And dolphin's leap, and little billow cross'd
By some low rock or shelve that made it fret,
Against the boundary it scarcely wet."
*****
" Mother-of-pearl, and porphyry, and marble,
Vied with each other on this costly spot;
And singing birds without were heard to warble;
And the stain'd glass which lighted this fair grot
Varied each ray." Byron.
The Sultan's summer-palace of Beglier Bey, on the Asiatic shore, is the most
elegant object on the Bosphorus. It is an irregularly fronted and extensive
edifice, stretching along the lip of the channel, whose waves wash its long and
stately terraces of glittering marble, and sometimes penetrate into their latticed
and mysterious recesses. The building is of wood; and the harem presents a
line of gables perforated with long ranges of windows secured by most minute
screens of gilded wood: the Salemliek, containing the State apartments, the
private saloons of the Sultan, and the rooms occupied by the Imperial household,
is an octagonal pile, of which the pointed roof is surmounted by a crescent
supporting a star, whose richly gilded points flash in the sunshine like lambent
fire. The entire building is painted in white and pale gold; and it has rather
the appearance of a fairy-palace, called into existence by enchantment, than the
mere every-day work of human hands.
A marble gate, terminating the terrace in the direction of the city, admits the
visitor into a garden bright with flowers, and redolent of perfume; where foun-
tains for ever fling their delicate jets of water against the sky, with a soft and
soothing music well suited to the spot; and where birds of gorgeous plumage
wander at will, as rainbow-tinted as the blossoms amid which they sport. A line
of gilt lattices veils the seaward boundary of this delicious retreat; and, passing
beside these, an inlaid door of stately proportions gives admittance to the Hall of
Entrance.