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symmetrical collection of piles and buttresses : the effect of the whole would be stumpy , were it not for the fairy minarets which raise their airy columns above the dome . Nor is the interior much better ; there is a crowd of columns and pillars of every order , size , and material , —porphyry , Egyptian granite , jasper , and marble . These are , however , interesting from the fineness of their workmanship and the fact that they were used formerly as supports and decorations in
various Pagan temples . The most vivid impression left on me by San Sophia , is a feeling of its vastness . Its wide extent is unbroken by altars , chapels , pews , statues , or any object to interfere with a sense of magnitude : it is like a gigantic sepulchral vault , as the principal and only merit of its
architecture is the small elevation of its cupola in proportion to its circumference . The only object indicative of the sacred purpose of the huge building is a pulpit ; yet , when lit with coloured lamps suspended from the dome , and filled with a crowd of true believers , the effect must be imposing . While thus reflecting , Miss P . came to me ,
her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm . " Look Mr . — , " she exclaimed , " that dusty time-worn banner over the pulpit is the same that the Sultan ~ Mahomet placed there ¦ with his own hand the day he conquered Constantinople , more than
four hundred years ago . Think of that . And I did think ; yes , it was here , after the hosts of the Crescent , drunk with blood and fury , had wrought such carnage as the world has few examples of , that at the command of their leader they knelt to thank Heaven for victory on the mangled bodies of their victims !
We sailed at sundown yesterday , but had light enough to see those fairy chiosks and minarets that crown Constantinople so lightly that a puff of wind seems to endanger them , gradually fade in the distance ; so on , past Therapia , the residence of ambassadors and wealthy merchants , rising from the w ater in a semicircle , terrace over terrace , amid the luxuriant foliage of a thousand varied trees and shrubs .
Each moment the panorama changed . A little further , the pretty painted houses of Buyukdere hove in sight , while the bold range of Asiatic hills , covered with every description of shrub and tree , added their quota to the picturesque whole ; then past the majestic castles of Europe and Asia . Night closed in as we accomplished the passage of the far-famed and most exquisite Thracian Bosphorus , and we slept upon the bosom of the stormy , treacherous
Euxine . 25 th . So far as our experience goes , we might say that the Black Sea has been belied , for after a light breeze from the east had died away , a complete cairn came on at noon yesterday ; so here we lie , provokingly , like a painted ship upon a painted sea .
The ladies have been amusing themselves overhauling their purchases from the bazaars of Constantinople , and Sir Arthur ' s into the bargain , —among the latter some exquisitely-ornamented Circassian arms , of rare temper and beauty . VOL . IT . T
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
symmetrical collection of piles and buttresses : the effect of the whole would be stumpy , were it not for the fairy minarets which raise their airy columns above the dome . Nor is the interior much better ; there is a crowd of columns and pillars of every order , size , and material , —porphyry , Egyptian granite , jasper , and marble . These are , however , interesting from the fineness of their workmanship and the fact that they were used formerly as supports and decorations in
various Pagan temples . The most vivid impression left on me by San Sophia , is a feeling of its vastness . Its wide extent is unbroken by altars , chapels , pews , statues , or any object to interfere with a sense of magnitude : it is like a gigantic sepulchral vault , as the principal and only merit of its
architecture is the small elevation of its cupola in proportion to its circumference . The only object indicative of the sacred purpose of the huge building is a pulpit ; yet , when lit with coloured lamps suspended from the dome , and filled with a crowd of true believers , the effect must be imposing . While thus reflecting , Miss P . came to me ,
her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm . " Look Mr . — , " she exclaimed , " that dusty time-worn banner over the pulpit is the same that the Sultan ~ Mahomet placed there ¦ with his own hand the day he conquered Constantinople , more than
four hundred years ago . Think of that . And I did think ; yes , it was here , after the hosts of the Crescent , drunk with blood and fury , had wrought such carnage as the world has few examples of , that at the command of their leader they knelt to thank Heaven for victory on the mangled bodies of their victims !
We sailed at sundown yesterday , but had light enough to see those fairy chiosks and minarets that crown Constantinople so lightly that a puff of wind seems to endanger them , gradually fade in the distance ; so on , past Therapia , the residence of ambassadors and wealthy merchants , rising from the w ater in a semicircle , terrace over terrace , amid the luxuriant foliage of a thousand varied trees and shrubs .
Each moment the panorama changed . A little further , the pretty painted houses of Buyukdere hove in sight , while the bold range of Asiatic hills , covered with every description of shrub and tree , added their quota to the picturesque whole ; then past the majestic castles of Europe and Asia . Night closed in as we accomplished the passage of the far-famed and most exquisite Thracian Bosphorus , and we slept upon the bosom of the stormy , treacherous
Euxine . 25 th . So far as our experience goes , we might say that the Black Sea has been belied , for after a light breeze from the east had died away , a complete cairn came on at noon yesterday ; so here we lie , provokingly , like a painted ship upon a painted sea .
The ladies have been amusing themselves overhauling their purchases from the bazaars of Constantinople , and Sir Arthur ' s into the bargain , —among the latter some exquisitely-ornamented Circassian arms , of rare temper and beauty . VOL . IT . T