St. Sophia & the Seraglio

Some gentlemen at another hotel and ourselves having joined, we procured a firman to visit the interior of these celebrated places - this morning to the number of twenty to 30 persons we proceeded with the turkish officer bearing the firman - first to the Seraglio - and were shown the armoury -originally the Greek church of St. Irene here is - chain armour of different kinds formerly used by the turks - fire Locks & match Locks - some of immense calibre - probably carried by animals as the weight would be too much for a man -

In a cabinet near the part of the church were formerly stood the altar were shown the keys of the different fortresses of the empire - finely set in gold and jewells - there were the keys of St. Jean d'Arc - Jerusalem Rhodes - Damascus, and soforth - the swords & (?) of various Sultans were also there kept in glass cases - and very formidable weapons - that of Mustapha was the largest and able edged the mint is the next building -

A number of men were employed - some in melting and casting copper of which the sultans coins are mostly composed - others in stamping the small paras of which ten make one cent - in one apartment they were coining gold Zecchinoes which are the best coins intrinsically worth 15 percent less than the nominal value - while the small silver are not worth a third of what they pass for - -

The council house is quite oriental- and antique - the roof in form of a turkish tent - the sultan here confers with his pashas - - in the same court is the open divan where ambassadors were formerly received -

From here we proceeded into another court thro a gate at which a number of pale faced eunuchs were stationed - most of them old men of emaciated appearance - ending their days in a service in which they had passed their emasculated youth -

Now we were shewn into flower gardens upon which opened saloons - and one in particular in which were wide spread divans - covered with gold & damasks with large base windows looking on the Bosphorous - a number of marble fountains & cascades - here everything breathes luxury and indulgence - at this kiosk the sultan comes to amuse himself with his women and mates - the marble baths are very nice and clean - they looked so inviting that I longed to take a sweat in one of them - the marble privies are also curious & places of ablution - cleanliness with these people being a religious duty and at the same time the greatest luxury - the kitchens are on a large scale, as some thousand persons have to be fed 40,000 cords of wood are annually required for the seraglio - the purveyors have to furnish daily besides a hundred beeves - 200 sheep - 100 lambs - 200 hens - 200 pr pullets 100 pr pigeons - and 50 geese - I certainly saw no preparations for cooking on such a scale, but should say that near a hundred cooks were in the kitchen - the chief Baltaghie - was a dignified old chap overlooking the others -

Among other dishes preparing were sweetmeats of which they handed us a plate - it was pastry sweetened with honey and rose water - I ate several pieces of it, but the others found it too sweet - as the constant use of such sweets must have a tendency to spoil the teeth - asked the dragoman - if bad teeth were a cause of dismissal from the harem, he replied not if the girl was young and attractive in other respects -

In the stables there were some good looking horses mostly stallions - but the best of the sultans horses are at his summer palace where he now resides -

The Seraglio is the site of the ancient Byzantium, but nothing remains of that - the walls were built by the roman Emperors - and there is a triumphal column erected in the reign of Theodosius - all the present buildings for some are of wood have been erected by the turks except the church (now the armoury) of St. Irene, and the mint - -

Leaving the seraglio by the same gate we had entered went to St. Sophia which is quite near the wall of the Seraglio - the outward appearance of this celebrated building is missive and gloomy the doom is supported by immense buttresses and has stood the lapse of 13 centuries - our firman bearer preceded us into the mosque carrying in his hand the imperial signature by which unbelievers can alone enter for untill lately it was inaccessible except to Musselmans -

In the absence of all painting or sculpture - the immense arches - large dome & celebrated marble columns are the objects of admiration - the columns are dear to the antiquary - for here are those taken from the temple of Diana at Ephesus to the number of eight - also some from the temple of the sun at Heliopolis - from the temple of Pallas at Athens of Phabus at Delos - and of Gybele at Cysicus every species of marble, granite and Porphery - Phrygian white, with rose coloured stripes, Green marble from Laconia & blue from Lybia - but time the great conqueror has given all these magnificent pillows one dark tinge - and the spectator looks in vain for the beauty that history has ascribed to them - the marble pavement is covered with a thick layer of matting -

Turks were prostrating themselves in their devotions - others were chanting in a loud voice - portions of the Koran - and some children were amusing themselves at play - the turkish mosques are treasure depots- the sides of St. Sophia are encumbered with trunks and chests - safe as in a sanctuary from the hand of the robber as from the confiscating grips of the Sultan -

We ascended the gallery - the part assigned to the greek women in christian times - they are wide & spacious - here time and the elements have done their part - earthquakes have shaken the granite columns from their perpendicular and the large marble slabs that form the pavement are cracked and broken - the arches are fissured & the great dome itself is rent and out 0f shape - but the finish of the whole denotes that it was built in the decline of the art - none of the simplicity 0f the old grecian temples - or the polish of modern architecture - it is an immensely strong - heavy & gloomy edifice -

Fatigued & weary we returned to our several lodgings to resume our rounds tomorrow -

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