Part 9 (1/2)
But that was centuries ago.
Thursday morning ushered in a bright, clear, cool day. We were up early, eager for sight-seeing, and little boats soon carried us to the custom house pier on the Galata side. Open carriages drawn by wiry Turkish horses and driven by Turkish drivers were there in readiness to carry us across the Golden Horn to explore the sights of Stamboul. As our carriages rattled over the plank pontoon bridge with its drawbridge in the center, we pa.s.sed through a crowd of people more varied as to nationality and costume than can be seen at almost any other place on the globe. The Turks, of course, predominated, their nationality being indicated by the national head-gear,--the red fez. The wealthier Turks wore the English style of clothing and the red fez. The costumes of the other cla.s.ses varied according to their occupation. On the bridge as our driver guided his team through the throng, we saw Turkish soldiers in blue uniforms and red fez; Moslems wearing a green sash around the fez to indicate that they had performed a pilgrimage to Mecca; stately-looking bearded Greek priests in black robes and peculiar hats; Nubians with black glistening skins and tattooed faces; Moslem priests with pure white turbans, and Moslem priests with high green turbans; Russian or Hungarian peasants with coats of sheep skin, the fleecy sides of which were turned inward; Dervishes in brown mantles, and high-coned brown hats without brims; Hebrews in long yellow coats and little curls at the sides of their heads; Turks in gold embroidered trousers and jackets and long flowing blue sleeves; Turkish women with faces closely veiled, and negro women who concealed their features behind white veils in the same manner as the Turkish women.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A STRUCTURE DIFFERING IN DESIGN FROM ANY OTHER CHRISTIAN TEMPLE.]
”Those cakes looked so good, I was almost tempted to take one off the tray,” said one of the occupants of our carriage, as a peddler carrying on his head a table filled with cakes and pastry pa.s.sed so closely that his wares were within reach.
”Oh, how could you think of doing such a thing,” hastily exclaimed her companion, horrified at the thought, ”we should all be placed in a dungeon and our pleasure ended.”
Peddlers of dates, bearing their stock of fruit in huge baskets on their backs and carrying scales in one hand, held up a sample of dates towards us with the other hand; dealers in nuts in the same manner carried and offered their wares to the pa.s.sers-by; peddlers of ”Turkish delight” and other sweetmeats arranged the candies on their trays in an attractive manner; and the sherbet sellers called attention to the pink liquid in large gla.s.s bottles suspended on their backs. At each end of the bridge were half a dozen toll collectors in long white overs.h.i.+rts who stood in line across the way collecting the toll of ten paras, or one cent, from each person that crossed.
”How clearly that dome and the two minarets stand out against the sky,” exclaimed one of the party, pointing to a great dome and two delicate minarets with tapering peaks which rose above the buildings directly in front of us on the other side of the bridge.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THIS STREAM FLOWING INTO THE BOSPORUS IS CALLED THE GOLDEN HORN.]
”That is the Mosque where the Sultans and their families went to prayer when they resided in the Seraglio near by. We will not stop at this Mosque but will go directly to the Mosque of St. Sophia.”
”Professor,” said the lady who in Athens had confessed her ignorance of history, ”please give us some information about the church of St. Sophia while we are grouped here together in front of the building.”
The professor expressed his willingness to do so, provided we were willing to take the time to listen.
”In the year 532 A.D.,” said he, ”Justinian, the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, decided to erect in Constantinople a church that should be a glory to the city and an honor to his name. His desire was to build one 'such as since Adam has never been seen,' a structure differing in design from any Christian temple previously constructed and surpa.s.sing in magnificence any temple that afterwards might be built. The empire was then at the height of its power and glory, and Justinian, in emulation of Solomon, made demands on all the countries under his dominion for contributions of ivory, cedar, gold, silver, precious stones, and the rarest marbles.
”In order to attain his ambitious design, the monarch robbed the Temple of the Sun at Baalbek of columns of porphyry, despoiled the Temple of Diana of Ephesus of its finest pillars, took columns of pure white marble from the Temple of Minerva at Athens, and divested the shrines of Isis and Osiris in Egypt of their choicest granite columns. He called upon the quarries of Italy, Greece, and the aegean Isles for marbles of every hue produced by them, so that, when completed, the temple should contain the most beautiful marbles the world could yield, and these he ordered to be highly polished and artistically arranged. To hasten the construction, ten thousand workmen under the direction of one hundred architects were employed, and in less than six years the immense structure, 'the great Church of Santa Sophia, or Heavenly Wisdom,' one of the most famous churches of the world, was ready for dedication.
”The great altar was built of silver and gold, the seven chairs of the bishops were plated with silver, the crosses and crucifixes were composed of pure gold, and the altar cloth and vestments were encrusted with precious stones. Jeweled images of saints, sacred paintings of fabulous value, and holy relics to be adored by kneeling wors.h.i.+pers, were arranged around the walls of the building. The huge doors of the temple were made of cedar, ivory, amber, and silver; the ceiling glistened with golden mosaics; the walls shone with polished marbles: and the capitals of the columns were laced with delicate carvings inset with mother-of-pearl, silver, and precious stones.
”On the day of the dedication of the temple a jubilant procession of patriarchs, bishops, priests, and people, in admiring wonder, entered the completed building with songs and rejoicings. The Emperor, at the head of the procession, overcome with pride and joy in the glorious consummation of his purpose, threw himself upon the floor and exultingly exclaimed: 'Glory to G.o.d who has deemed me worthy to accomplish so great a work. O Solomon, I have surpa.s.sed thee!'
”In this sanctuary for over nine centuries the people wors.h.i.+ped G.o.d according to the Christian faith in great pomp and with much ceremony.
The bishops officiated at the golden altar reading from golden lettered ma.n.u.scripts, and were a.s.sisted in the service by scores of richly robed priests and hundreds of selected musicians, while the air was filled with the fragrance of rising incense. But during the latter part of the Middle Ages while the power and glory of the Roman Empire was gradually declining, the rival Mohammedan Turkish Empire in Asia was rapidly ascending to a dominant position. Finally, in the year 1453 A.D., the Sultan of Asiatic Turkey, Muhammed II, determined to obtain possession of Constantinople and make the city the capital of his empire. His army besieged the decadent city and captured it after a struggle of fifty-three days. When the Turkish troops entered in triumph they tore the emblems of Christianity from their places and, instead of the cross of the Christian, they raised the crescent of the Moslem.
”In the church of St. Sophia the conquerors tore down the golden altar, melted the silver plates, removed the images of saints, painted over the sacred pictures, and took away the jewels and precious stones, changing the interior to suit the simpler wors.h.i.+p of the followers of Mahomet.
The name of the building was changed and it was thereafter known as the Mosque of Saint Sophia. For four hundred and fifty years the Mosque has been in possession of the Turks. Its doors are open at all times for Moslems to enter freely; but the entrance is carefully guarded to keep Christian or foreign visitors from intruding. The latter, however, may gain admission by paying an entrance fee of forty cents, and removing their shoes at the door or lacing over their shoes the loose slippers that are provided for this purpose.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: THREE MEN RAISED THE BURDEN TO HIS SHOULDERS.]
On the porch of the Mosque we put our feet into the loose slippers, a Moslem attendant tied them on as carefully as the clumsy things could be tied, and then, accompanied by him, we entered the building. The immense floor, an acre in size, was covered with handsome heavy rugs. As we slid, rather than walked, over the soft Turkish carpets, our turbaned guide, with sharp, piercing, black eyes, watched carefully to see that our slippers did not become unfastened and drop off, and our infidel shoes profane the holy enclosure. And when one of the visitors laughed within the sacred edifice, the attendant's black eyes flashed with anger.
It was not the regular hour for prayer in the mosque, but a number of wors.h.i.+pers were devoutly kneeling at different places in the interior, with faces turned toward a black stone in the south wall, which indicated the direction of the holy city of Mecca. Others, squatting on their bare heels, were reading or reciting in monotonous tones parts of the Koran. There are no benches or chairs in the building; Moslem wors.h.i.+pers do not require seats while at their devotions. The great dome, over one hundred feet in width, rises in grandeur one hundred and eighty feet overhead, supported by four huge columns each seventy feet in circ.u.mference. A circle of windows, forty-four in number, around the dome illumines the golden mosaics which cover the ceiling. A mosaic picture in the dome representing the Almighty, has been obliterated by the Turks and covered with green linen cloth. A verse from the Koran, in gilt Arabic characters almost thirty feet long, is painted on this cloth. The sentence, as translated, begins: ”G.o.d is the light of heaven and earth,” and ends, ”G.o.d alone sheddeth His light on whomsoever He pleaseth.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: THROUGH THE NARROW STREETS OF THE CITY.]
”If the Moslems believe in the Bible and in G.o.d as a supreme being, why did they destroy the mosaic representation of G.o.d on the ceiling?”
inquired one of the visitors.
”The Moslems do believe in the Bible and in one Supreme G.o.d,” was the reply, ”and it was this very belief that led them to paint out the picture of G.o.d and to destroy all the images and paintings of saints; for G.o.d's command is: 'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them.'”
”The Moslems,” continued the guide, ”regard Mahomet as the Prophet of G.o.d, and the Koran as written by him under the inspiration of G.o.d; but they do not wors.h.i.+p Mahomet or any image or picture of him.”