DOLMA-BATCHÈ, FROM THE GRAND CHAMPS DES MORTS.
Reading edition
“Fair the vernal mead, Fair the high grove, the sea, the sun, the stars, True impress each of their creating sire.” Coleridge.
Dolma-Batchè, or the Valley of the Gourds, is a fair and fertile spot, situated between Top-hannè and Beshik-Tash, and partially occupied by an Imperial residence, seated on the lip of the channel, along which its gilded terraces stretch for a considerable distance, and are succeeded by the Palace itself, gay with paint and bright with gold, which, in turn, yields its place to groves and kiosques overhanging the water; while its spacious gardens and pleasure-grounds, jealously walled in for the use of the ladies of the Imperial Harem, fill a large portion of the valley. Beyond these guarded precincts the ground gradually rises, rich with vegetation; while clusters of fruit-trees overshadow the gourds for which the spot is famous, and the bright patches of Indian corn that are scattered on all sides.
DOLMA-BATCHÈ. (From the Necropolis of Pera.)
DOLMA-BATCHÈ (VU DU CIMETIÈRE DE PÉRA.) DOLMA-BATCHÈ (VOM LEICHENHOFE ZU PERA.)
W. H. Bartlett. E. Benjamin.
London. Published for the Proprietors, by Geo: Virtue, 26, Ivy Lane, 1839.
The spot chosen by the artist to give a glimpse of this lovely valley, is one which is much frequented by the Turks: it is a height at the extremity of the beautiful Necropolis of Pera, whence the land suddenly takes a downward slope, and descends to the edge of the Bosphorus, covered with foliage; the almond-tree mingling its bright sunny green with the dense hues of the cypress, and the apple-blossom laughing out in its pure beauty beside the overshadowing and majestic maple. The cemetery itself is very picturesque, occupying a portion of this same slope, where it descends less abruptly to the sea; and then stretching away like a dark fringe along the edge of the height for a considerable distance, in the direction of Pera.
The Turks have a singular tradition attached to this burial-place, of which mention must not be omitted. They believe that, on particular anniversaries, sparks of fire exude from the graves, and lose themselves among the boughs of the cypresses by which they are overshadowed; an idea so eminently poetical, that it induces a disinclination to canvass its rationality.
A wooden kiosque occupies the crest of the hill immediately above the valley, and is a favourite resort with all classes of people who can afford to enjoy an hour’s leisure in the balmy season, and to indulge themselves in the contemplation of one of the loveliest spots on the Bosphorus. The Cafejhi, by whom it is tenanted, not only provides the everlasting coffee, and the eternal chibouque, but also adds a low wicker stool for the accommodation of his visitor, which enables him to select his own favourite spot beneath the sheltering branches of the trees planted about the kiosque; and to feast his vision with the fair scene, whose blended beauties can gain no single charm from mere verbal description with which they have not already been embued by the pencil of Mr. Bartlett.