Identifier: turkhislostprovi00curt (find matches)
Title: The Turk and his lost provinces : Greece, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Curtis, William Eleroy, 1850-1911
Subjects: Eastern question (Balkan) Greece -- Description and travel Bulgaria -- Description and travel Serbia -- Description and travel Bosnia and Hercegovina -- Description and travel
Publisher: Chicago London : F.H. Revell Company
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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venerable beard, which are inclosed in a casket ofgold. The sacred mantle is a long brown robe ofcamels-hair, made in the same shape and style andresembling in appearance those worn by Persianpriests. It is inclosed in a frame and covered withcloth-of-gold for protection, with little slits cut in thecovering in order that the threads may be seen. Thestandard of Islam is a green flag or banner, about twofeet square, of the finest silk, embroidered with aninscription similar to those seen in all the Mohamme-dan churches, declaring that there is no Godbut Allah and Mohammed is his prophet. Thisstandard is said to have been carried by Mohammedhimself and has ever since been the most significantand sacred egis of the Moslem world, the symbol of eljihady or call to a religious war, when borne publiclyby the Sultan in the mosque of St. Sophia. There are many other interesting buildings in theSeraglio, some of them famous for their decorationsand the carved marble used in their construction.
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MOSQUES AND PALACES 137 Others are gloomy-looking storehouses for archivesand wardrobes for the robes of state—once carefullykept by black eunuchs, now all more or less dilapidatedand abandoned. The kitchens cover a large area andare roofed with domes perforated to let out the smokeinstead of having the ordinary chimney, and in theolden days it is said that 40,000 oxen was the yearlycomplement, with a corresponding number of sheep,goats, calves, capons, geese, ducks, pigeons and othersupplies. In August, 1863, several of the ancient buildingswere destroyed and damaged by fire, and nowadays themost of them are yellow and dingy, sadly in need ofpaint and restoration. There is everywhere a look ofneglect. Most of the Seraglio is vacant except for thecustodians and guards, and everywhere there is apathetic squalor. The most beautiful of all the buildings, the famousoriental kiosk known as Tschinili, or the mosque ofporcelain, built by the conqueror Mohammed in imita-tion of one he saw a

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