Karl Baedeker

“ Two great routes of traffic were thus opened up from the Black Sea into the heart of Eastern Europe and even of Central Asia, enriching the world’s commerce with the products of these regions, and at the same time forming the portal through which Byzantine culture and Greek Christianity found their way into Russia. Through these passages great masses of cold northern air are poured into the Black Sea; but between them the Peninsula of the Crimea, a relic of the broken-down mountain-girdle, still stands boldly forth, giving shelter to an almost Mediterranean vegetation on its southern coast. ”

“ No part of the earth’s surface can offer so marvellous an intellectual feast. Land where he may, the traveller is almost invariably struck with the beauty of the scenery, the richness of the vegetation, and the wealth of historical memories. For three thousand years the Mediterranean was the theatre of all history, the cradle of all culture, to which the whole of humanity more or less directly owes its modern civilization. ”

“ The Situation of Constantinople has justly won the admiration of all ages. The vast city of Stambul curving over the slopes between the Sea of Marmora and the Golden Horn, the suburbs on the Bosporus, its green banks studded with villages, palaces, and mosques, the Golden Horn with its busy bridges and its countless vessels, all combine to form a picture of matchless beauty. ”

“ The *View of the yellow sands and bare rocks of the great desert-plateau, on which rise the Sphinx, the smaller pyramids of Gîzeh, and the more distant tombs stretching as far as Dahshûr, awakens solemn thoughts of death and eternity. At our feet stretches a tract of rich arable land, luxuriantly clothed with blue-green vegetation and entirely inundated in autumn. ”

“ In spring, especially at the time of the Greek Easter, the town is flooded with pilgrims, the majority being Russians. As a centre of the three chief religions of the world, Jerusalem has quite a religious atmosphere and is historically a city of overwhelming interest, but its tranquillity is sadly marred by the dissensions and jealousies of its numerous religious communities. Careful and patient study alone will reveal to the traveller something of the departed glory of the venerable capital of the Jewish empire. ”

“ The garden-like environs are fertile and well watered. With its numerous minarets, its domed tombs of saints, its town-walls garnished with many towers, and its loftily placed citadel (Kasba) overshadowed on the N. by the red sandstone rocks of the Jebel Dersa, it presents a most charming picture of an Oriental town entirely free from European disfigurement. The narrow, winding streets recall the ancient part of Cordova, and the colonnaded courts of the externally plain Moorish houses resemble the patios of Seville (p. 61) . ”

“ It is probable that the Greek range of hills was once prolonged eastwards, as appears to be indicated by the lie of the Cretan mountains, and that these in their turn were connected with the similarly stratified Taurus Mountains in Asia Minor. Just as the south-eastern peninsula of Europe, with Asia Minor, thus formed the great stepping-stones of traffic which brought the ancient culture of Europe into contact with that of Mesopotamia and Syria, so when the railway from Constantinople to Bagdad is completed a great future may yet be in store for the Orient. ”

“ Most prominent among trees in the cultivated lands is the silver-grey olive, which, as well as the vine and the fig-tree, has thriven here from the earliest times and is the most characteristic feature in every Mediterranean landscape. Most of the other fruit-trees also have been known here since remote antiquity. The fruit of the date-palm attains perfection in the oases of North Africa only (comp. p. 171) , but the tree bears fruit on the Spanish coast, and is very popular as an ornamental tree on the French and Italian Riviera and in other sheltered situations. ”

“ The large W. portal, adorned like the minaret with Byzantine columns, opens into the first inner court, on whose W. side rises the plain mosque itself with its nave and two aisles. A remarkably beautiful domed chamber leads into the second *Inner Court, a perfect gem, with its slender little marble columns, old wall-tiles, rich stucco-decoration, and modern soffited ceilings. A superb marble portal of Italian workmanship (18th cent.) leads to the alleged tomb of Sidi Sahâb, which is railed in and surrounded with valuable old Kairwan carpets besides much European frippery. ”

“ Lovers of art will find Tunisia a most attractive country. As in Algeria and Morocco, so here also the megalithic monuments (dolmens, basinas, etc.) , built of huge blocks of stone, are the chief memorials of the Libyan (or ancient Berber) culture. The Punic art of Tunisia, at first under Assyrian, Egyptian, and Greek influence, but exclusively Greek after the first campaigns in Sicily, has become better known of late, especially since the rich yield of the rock-tombs of Carthage. Apart from the tomb at Dougga (p. 355) , as little of Punic architecture remains as in Algeria. ”

“ Andalusia can boast of possessing, not only some of the finest and most interesting Moorish Buildings in Spain, such as the mosque at Cordova, the Giralda and Alhambra at Granada, but also several of the grandest monuments of the ‘reconquista’ period. Among these are the Alcázar of Seville, one of the most brilliant creations of the so-called Mudejar, or Moorish-Christian style, and the grand cathedrals of Seville and Granada in the Gothic and ‘plateresque’, or Spanish early-Renaissance, styles.—Nor is the Scenery of this region less attractive. ”

“ In the south and the east dwell Arabs and Turks, comparatively recent immigrants from the steppes of Asia. On one side, as in Southern France, is witnessed the height of civilization; on the other, as in Albania and many parts of Northern Africa, the population is sunk in the depths of ignorance. The dwellers in the west profess the Roman Catholic faith, those in the east belong to the Greek Catholic church, while they differ materially in culture also. Christianity again is antagonistic to Islam, which prevails in Turkey, Asia Minor, Syria, and North Africa. ”

“ The chief products of Tunisia are the tanner’s bark and cork of the Kroumirie, early vegetables from the environs of Tunis, cereals from the Medjerda valley and from the dales of the Sahara Atlas (here horse and cattle breeding also thrive) , alfa or esparto grass (p. 171) , olive-oil from the Sahel and from Sfax, and dates from the oases of the Sahara. Fish abound on the coast and the sponge fishery also is productive, while the coral-fishing has sunk into complete insignificance. The principal ores worked here are zinc, lead, iron, and copper. ”

“ As the Pyrenees are fringed on the east, on the frontier of Spain and France (near Port Vendres) , with a deeply indented coast, so too the Andalusian range is strongly marked by transverse fissures, the eastmost of which have severed the Balearic Islands from the mainland. Still more striking is the great westmost fissure or cleavage, where the girdle of mountains takes a sharp turn from west to east, where the action of tides and waves has hollowed out the Straits of Gibraltar, and has further widened them within the historic period. ”

“ The eastmost is the Kiathaneh Suyu, in the valley of which, about 11⁄4 M. up, is a château of the sultan, the most popular holiday resort of the citizens of Constantinople. In the meadows, under shady trees, are erected huts and arbours, where music and amusements of all kinds are provided. The Moslems enjoy themselves sedately here on Fridays; the Christians come on Sundays; hither too the people of fashion ride or drive. Shortly before sunset a whole flotilla of boats on the Golden Horn returns home to the city. ”

“ Italian is very useful in Tunisia, on the coast of Tripolitania and Barca, in Malta, throughout the Levant, in Greece, and at Constantinople. On the other hand a slight knowledge of Arabic will be found most useful throughout the whole of N. Africa, from Morocco to Egypt, and in Palestine and Syria.
Some Hints on Health may be of advantage to the inexperienced traveller from the north. As a rule an overcoat or extra wraps should be put on at sundown, though they may often be dispensed with an hour or two later. When heated with walking the traveller should not rest in the shade. ”

“ We now enter the harbour of Kastro, or Chios (Xenodochion Nea Chios, a good inn; pop. about 14,000, mostly Greeks) , the capital of the island, on the E. coast. Once a most important member of the Ionian league of cities, Chios belonged in the middle ages to the Venetians (1204–1345) , and then to the Genoese (1346–1566) , and only became Turkish under Suleiman the Great (p. 542) . The fruitless Greek struggle for independence ended with the massacre of Chios in 1832. The hill-country of Chios is extremely fertile. A valuable export is the gum of the mastic-shrub. ”

“ To the left, in the Mitidja Plain, between Cape Matifou and the sand-hills at the mouth of the Harrach, lies Fort-de-l’Eau, a sea-bathing place; beyond the Harrach, on the hill, stands the church of Kouba; farther along the coast, among the houses of Hussein-Dey and Belcourt, lies the Jardin d’Essai, backed by the gardens of Mustapha-Supérieur; behind the harbour of Algiers rises the high terrace-wall of the boulevards; then, above the new town, the white houses and lanes of the Kasba on the spurs of the hill crowned with the Fort l’Empereur ”

“ Arnaud, toilsome but very repaying, is best made in one day, as there are no good night-quarters on the route. We start very early, by mule, carrying a supply of food. We follow the highroad to Sillègue (diligence in the aft.) as far as the (12 M.) crossing of the bridle-path from Sétif, and ride thence to the N.E. in about 2 hrs. to Djemila, a poor Berber village on a narrow and lofty plateau amid barren mountains. This was once the Roman Cuicul, whose ruins, partially excavated of late, are the finest memorials in Algeria of the late-Roman epoch. ”

“ We ascend through a defile shaded with fine old fig and cherry trees, and soon reach the lower entrance of the village, whence we go straight on to the mosque, with its conspicuous minaret, and the kubba of the saint (guide quite needless) . The outer gateway, decorated anew in the later Turkish period, with its clumsy wooden penthouse in front, is the entrance to a forecourt, within which are the two sacred edifices and the Maison de l’Oukil (now the works-office) , a building of the time of Mohammed el-Kebîr (p. 178) , on the site of the ancient Zaouïa or pilgrims’ hospice. ”

“ Their structural value is small; the materials, chiefly wood and plaster, lack solidity, being often used for effect only; while architectural rules are constantly violated. But the ingenious disposition of the rooms and their sumptuous ornamentation, whose fairy-like effect is too often marred by decay or by faulty restoration, are unrivalled. The slender marble columns by which the light walls are supported recall the tent-poles of the nomads, while the mural decoration with its arabesques and flourishes reminds one of an Oriental carpet. ”

“ A large paved quadrangle to the W. of the Tower of the Winds is supposed to have been a Roman Macellum (Agora or market) . It is entered from the W. by the Market Gate (Porte de l’Agora; Pl. C, 6) . Four slender Doric columns, 26 ft. high, support a massive architrave with a frieze of triglyphs and metopes and a fairly well preserved pediment. According to the inscription on the architrave the gateway was erected about the time of the birth of Christ. In line with the N. central column is a tablet of Hadrian’s age, inscribed with regulations about the prices of oil, salt, etc. ”

“ The very shallow harbour, scarcely 5 acres in area, lying behind the fortified Ilot Joinville with its lighthouse, is probably identical with the Roman Naval Harbour, where part of the Alexandrian and Syrian fleet was always stationed to defend the coast against pirates. The short pier at the point of the lighthouse-island and an old embankment on the cliffs on the E. side of the bay protected the ancient Commercial Harbour. ”

“ The whole northern coast of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, apart from numerous wave-worn beaches, is completely rock-bound, forbidding all approach. Even the artificial harbours like that of Algiers are maintained with difficulty. At the east end of this long stretch of coast comes at last the welcome haven offered by the Gulf of Tunis which runs inland at the mouth of the depression between the Tell Atlas and the Sahara Atlas (p. 320) , and on which the Medjerda and other streams and several important roads converge. ”

“ On the north-west only, on each side of the Pyrenees, the basin is bounded by a coast of the primæval bed-rock formation, and is easily accessible from the Iberian mountains by the valleys of the Ebro, Jucar, and other rivers. Still more important are the avenues afforded by the Aquitanian Plains and the Rhone Valley. Hence it was that from a very early period the streams of Roman culture flowed through Marseilles and Narbonne to western and central Europe. ”

“ Tunisia owes its ancient culture, the earliest in Barbary, to its numerous Phœnician colonies, such as Utica, Kambe, Hadrumetum (Susa) , Leptis Minor, and Carthage. The Carthaginians wisely introduced the irrigation system of Mesopotamia into N. Africa and promoted the corn and vine culture, but the agricultural prosperity of the country was confined chiefly to the littoral, inhabited by Libyan-Phœnicians, a mixed Berber and Phœnician race, and to the valley of the Medjerda. ”

“ The whole country has been opened up by a network of excellent roads, and railways have been carried to the confines of the Sahara. In the towns, with the exception of Tlemcen and Constantine, most of the old Moorish and Turkish buildings have been superseded by French. While but few specimens of Moorish architecture have been spared by enthusiasts for improvement, there still survive in the Hauts-Plateaux some interesting relics of Roman buildings, recently unearthed from the oblivion of centuries, and now carefully preserved from further destruction. ”

“ The road ascends in short windings, dangerous for motorists descending, at one time following the S.W. slope of the hill above the Oued Aïssi, where we have splendid mountain views, at another running along the N.E. slope, above a second side-valley of the Sebaou. On every side we see countless fig-trees, the favourite fruit-trees of the natives. We pass isolated cottages and a few small Kabyle villages (Adeni, Tamâzirt, and others) , where the curious may obtain access to one or other of the poor and uninviting huts. ”

“ The **Third Mihrâb is considered a marvel of art. The front is adorned with two rows of columns, one above the other, and with double toothed arches. The vestibule, now Capilla de San Pedro, and the prayer-niche itself, a kind of heptagonal chapel of barely 13 ft. in diameter, exhibit the most elaborate efforts of early-Moorish art, especially in the rich marble plinth and in the coloured glass mosaics executed by Byzantine artists. The toothed arches of the windows and the boldly interlacing arches of the superb dome point to a later high development of Moorish art. ”