THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN ACHMET. 48
In the centre of the court, which is paved throughout with rich marble, a stately fountain, 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 on Stamboul more worthy of attention than the Imperial Mosque of Sultan Achmet.
PLATE: COLUMN OF MARCIAN.
THE COLUMN OF MARCIAN.
There Rome's proud eagle, carved in living stone,
Is lifted to the skies, and forms the base
Of a 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 surmounted: 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 monument 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.