The most distinguished of the kiosks of former sultans was that of Beshiktash, on the Bosphorus, forming one of the first objects which presents itself to a stranger ascending the strait in a caïque. The style is very remarkable, and truly Oriental. In the centre is an edifice with projecting roofs, and surrounded by a cluster of similar ones, intended, it is said, to represent the original warlike habitations of the Turcomans−-the tent or pavilion of the khan, in the centre, and those of his officers pitched round it as in encampment: but the present sultan, in his zeal to abolish the old and establish a new order of things, is everywhere changing the architecture, as well as the dress, of his subjects, and his new erections bear the stamp of this improvement, and form strong contrasts with those of his predecessors. His factories and founderies resemble those of Manchester and Sheffield, and his palaces are revivals of ancient Grecian art. On the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, nearly opposite to Beshiktash, and the old palace, he has erected a new one, displaying a taste very different from the former, and a design equal in beauty and arrangement to any of those erected by European sovereigns. It consists of a centre with two extensive wings. The long façade presents, not foundation-walls of rude masonry supporting a barbarous superstructure of wood, with windows darkened by dense blinds, like all the imperial palaces on the opposite coast; but a Doric colonnade of marble is approached by spacious flights of steps of the same material; these elevate stately fronts of sculptured stone, pierced by regular open windows, ornamented with mouldings and architraves, and surmounted by cornices and balustrades. The centre is a superb entrance of six Corinthian pillars, crowned by a noble pediment, enclosing a sculptured tympanum. This central portion is the residence of the sultan; the left wing contains the harem of his establishment, and the right the various offices of his household. The edifice stands on a quay of hewn granite, and forms the most noble and novel object of all the buildings that line the shores of the Bosphorus.