Constantinople : and the scenery of the seven churches of Asia Minor . towers are denominated Menar or Minareh, an Arabic word which signifies a beacon or light-house to guide the true believer. The Muezzim puts his hands behindhis ears, and from the hollow of his palms shouts out his invitation, walking round andrepeating to the four points of the compass, There is but one God, and Mohammed ishis prophet:—come to prayers—come to salvation. This cry, called the Ezan, isrepeated five times a day at regular intervals; and as it issues from every minaret, andperhaps two thousand mouths at the sam
Constantinople : and the scenery of the seven churches of Asia Minor . towers are denominated Menar or Minareh, an Arabic word which signifies a beacon or light-house to guide the true believer. The Muezzim puts his hands behindhis ears, and from the hollow of his palms shouts out his invitation, walking round andrepeating to the four points of the compass, There is but one God, and Mohammed ishis prophet:—come to prayers—come to salvation. This cry, called the Ezan, isrepeated five times a day at regular intervals; and as it issues from every minaret, andperhaps two thousand mouths at the same moment, it fills all the air with a solemn andsupernatural sound, and regulates all the arrangements of the people, who have no publicclocks to direct them. Besides the common mosque of the city, there are thirteen emi-nently distinguished. They are called Djami Selatyn, or Imperial mosques, becausethey have been erected by some sultan as the highest act of piety. They are alwaysdistinguished by their magnitude, magnificence, and the number and beauty of their. m ?:?.,•/J- - CONSTANTINOPLE AND ITS ENVIRONS. 17 minarets. While the smaller mosques have but one, they have never less than two, andgenerally four. But of all these Djami, that erected by Soliman II. is the most splendidamong the mosques, as its founder was among the sultans. He was called the magni-ficent, and his temple justifies the appellation. The Christian church of Saint Euphemia,at Chalcedon, in which the grand council had been held, was celebrated for its size andarchitectural ornaments. It contained on that memorable occasion 630 bishops in itsnave, and was the most distinguished of Christian churches after Santa Sophia: when thatedifice was dedicated to the Prophet by his predecessor, Soliman could not appropriateany of its parts to his new erection; so he dilapidated the church of St. Euphemia forthe purpose, and built his mosque with its materials. It was commenced in 1550, andtook five years to bu
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