BEAUTIES OF THE BOSPHORUS. 106
PLATE: MOSQUE OF BAYAZET. WITH THE SERASKIERS GATE..
MOSQUE OF SULTAN BAYAZET.
----"This enchanted ground,
And all its thousand turns disclouse
Some fresher beauty varying round:
The haughtiest breast its wish might bound
Through life to dwell delighted here."
BYRON.
THE Mosque of Sultan Bayazet is situated in the angle of a large open area, known as the "Square of the Seraskier," from the circumstance that his palace, or rather its extensive court, forms another side of the enclosure; its large and lofty projecting gate, elaborately wrought and fretted with gold, ans surmounted by a dome crowned with an immense gilded star, being, perhaps, the most oriental feature of the scene.
The Mosque of Bayazet is built in the immediate neighbourhood of the great Tchartchi, or Bazār, and hence the square is constantly thronged with merchants, traders, and strangers, passing to and from this vast commercial mart; while groups of khamals, or street porters, lounge on every side with their baskets, waiting to be hired by such visitors to the Tchartchi as chance to make purchases. Numbers of Greek and Armenian mahalibč(*) and yahourt(*) merchants are also perpetually to bee seen; the first with their dainty fare temptingly set forth upon fine linen cloths, and protected from the sun by huge white umbrellas, looking like gigantic mushrooms; and the others, wandering from side to side, balancing a large wooden scales on which the small basis of red clay, containing the yahourt, are arranged with extreme care and cleanliness; while, at intervals, the water-venders cross the path, with their classically-moulded earthen pitchers on their shoulders, and their capacious goblets of crystal, carried on a narrow tray attached to the leathern girdle about their waists; giving out, as they move along, the low, plaintive, and by no means unmusical cry peculiar to their calling; and exerting a very successful rivalry with the sherbetjhes, who plant their portable fountains under the cool shadows of some lofty wall, and invite customers by the fairy chime of the metal bells which the flow of the beverage keeps in perpetual play.
(*) A composition resembling blanc-mange, and very popular in Turkey.
(+) Sour and congealed milk.