Narrative of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. IIEvliya Çelebi
History
Narrative of Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. II
Evliya Çelebi
Caucasus, South -- Description and travel; Istanbul (Turkey) -- Description and travel; Turkey -- History
Outside of the courtyard of the mosque of the middle castle is the
college of Mohammed II. with a great number of cells and students.
There is a general lecture (Dersí-a’ám), the lecturer holds the degree
of a Molla; it is a mine of poets, and meeting-place of wits. The
college of Katúnieh is adorned with cells on four sides; the students
receive fixed quantities of meat and wax for their subsistence. The
college of Iskender Páshá on the north side of the mosque, that bears
the same name, is richly endowed with stipends for the students. The
reading-houses of Trebisonde are those of the middle castle, at the
mosque of Mohammed II., where reading after the manner of Ibn Kether
is introduced; that of Khatúnieh, where works on the Korán are read
after the seven established methods of Jeserí and Shátebieh; and that
of Iskender Páshá close to its mosque. The abecedarian schools for boys
are that of Mohammed II. in the middle castle; the school of the new
mosque, a school so blessed, that a boy who has been taught here to
read the Bismillah (in God’s name!) cannot fail to be a learned man;
the elegant school of Khatúnieh on the west side of the mosque is built
of stone, with a cupola, where orphans are supplied with mental and
bodily food, with dresses on great festivals and presents besides; and
the schools of Iskender Páshá; these are the most celebrated.
There is a pleasant double bath for the use of both sexes, in the
middle castle near the gate which leads to the lower castle.
The bath of the tower is on the north wall of the innermost or tower
castle; it is a single one, and is said to have existed in the time
of the Infidels. The bath of the Imáret, built by Khatúnieh mother of
Selím I. The bath of the lower castle is a single one, that of Iskender
Páshá is double; the bath of the Infidels is between the New Friday
quarter and the Infidels’ place, and the bath of Tekfúr-seraï. There
are besides at Trebisonde two hundred and forty-five private baths, and
a great number of Kháns. The Khán of Khátúnieh has a stable equal to
that of Antar, which will accommodate one hundred horses; besides many
other Kháns for merchants and single persons.
Of the Market-places, the first is outside of the gate of the
wax-manufactory. There is a well-built Bezestán where the Arabian and
Persian merchants reside, who are extremely rich and wealthy. In the
middle castle the market called the small market, is furnished with
every thing; its shops amount to the number of eighty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account