CHAPTER XXIV.
Balouclè—The New Church—Delightful Road—Eyoub—The Cemetery—The Rebel’s Grave—The Mosque of Blood—The Hill of Graves—The Seven Towers—The Palace of Belisarius—The City Walls—Easter Festivities—The Turkish Araba—The Armenian Carriage—Travellers—Turkish Women—Seridjhes—Persians—Irregular Troops—The Plain of Balouclè—Laughable Mistake—Extraordinary Discretion—The Church of Balouclè—The Holy Well—Absurd Tradition—The Chapel Vault—Enthusiasm of the Greeks—A Pleasant Draught—Greek Substitute for a Bell—Violent Storm.
Our next expedition was to Balouclè, where the Greeks have recently built a small, but elegant church, upon the spot once occupied by a very spacious edifice, which had gone to ruin. The ride, though long and somewhat fatiguing, was most delightful; the road leading us across the hills, to the fair Valley of the Sweet Waters, along the banks of the sparkling Barbyses, past the Imperial kiosks; and onward to the beautiful village of Eyoub, the stronghold of the Constantinopolitan Turks, wherein they allow no Giaour to reside; and the marble floor of whose thrice-holy mosque no infidel foot has ever trodden.
The situation of Eyoub is eminently picturesque. It is backed by gently-swelling hills, clothed with trees, where the delicate acacia and the majestic maple are mingled with the scented lime and the dark and rigid cypress, whose blended shadows fall over a thousand graves, and turn away the sunlight from the lettered tombs of many a lordly Musselmaun. Eyoub possesses also a melancholy interest from the fact, that in its beautiful cemetery stands the rude mausoleum of the rebel Ali of Tepeleni who revolted in Albania, wherein are deposited the heads of himself, his three sons, and his grandson. Nor is this all; for a small mosque, almost buried amid tall trees, may be distinguished at the point where the main street sweeps downward to the water’s edge, whose modest minaret is painted a dull red from its base to its spire, and which bears the thrilling designation of the “Mosque of Blood.”
I have elsewhere mentioned that the Osmanlis do not permit their temples to be desecrated by the admission of the dead beneath their roofs; and this humble pile earned its awful appellation at the siege of Constantinople, when its doors were forced by the combatants, and its narrow floor cumbered with slain. Since that period, its single minaret has been painted as I have described; and it possesses an additional interest from its vicinity to the bleak, naked, treeless hill, whereon were interred all the True Believers who perished at that memorable period, and whose ashes still remain undisturbed.
Nothing can be more romantic than the appearance of the Seven Towers, the remains of the Palace of Belisarius, and the crumbling walls of the city, extending along the whole line of road to Balouclè, like a succession of ruined castles; and overtopped by forest trees, whose bright foliage forms a striking contrast from the grey and mouldering rampart. At intervals, towers thickly overgrown with ivy, and tottering to their fall, raise their fantastic outline against the sky; while the moat is in many places entirely concealed by the wild fig trees, and the dense underwood, that have sprung in wild luxuriance from the rich soil.
At the period of our visit, the Easter festivities were at their height, and the road was covered with groups of travellers, all hurrying towards the same point. There was the gilded araba of the Turkish lady, with its covering of crimson cloth, and its carved lattices; followed by a mounted negro. Then came the bullock-carriage of an Armenian family, gaily painted and cushioned, its oxen half covered with worsted tassels and finery, and glittering about the head with foil and gold leaf; while a long curved stick, extending backward from each yoke as far as the carriage, was painted in stripes of blue and yellow, and adorned with pendent tassels of coloured worsted. Both animals wore their charm against the Evil Eye; and the whole equipage was sufficiently well-appointed to have done honour to the harem of a Pasha, while the bright dark eyes and delicate hands of its occupants would have been an equal triumph for his taste. But at the first glance you saw that the carriage was not that of a Turk, for the painted hoops were plainly covered by a white awning, the symbol of the raïah. The haughty Osmanli has reserved to himself the privilege of seating his wives beneath draperies of crimson, blue, or purple, fringed with gold; while the Armenian, the Greek, and the Jew, when making use of this popular conveyance, are obliged to content themselves with a simple awning of white linen. Here galloped a reckless Greek, urging his good hack to the top of its speed; there moved along a stately Turk, with the hand of his groom resting on the flank of his well-fed horse, and his pipe-bearer walking five paces behind him. Now it was a party of Franks, booted, spurred, and looking in silent scorn upon the incongruous trappings of the natives, and now a group of foot-passengers, walking at a pace which I never saw equalled in England.
As we approached Balouclè, the features of the scene became still more striking. The low wall that skirted the road was covered with Turkish women, squatted upon their rugs and carpets, with the arabas in which they had travelled ranged along behind them. Seridjhes were walking droves of horses to and fro, and waiting for customers to hire them; travelling merchants were retailing yahourt and mohalibè to the hungry and the weary; Bulgarians were playing their awkward antics to attract the attention of the idle, and the piastres of the profuse; and the halt and the blind were seated by the wayside, to invoke the paras of the charitable. Parties of Persians, with large white turbans, silken robes, and eyes as black as midnight, were walking their well-trained horses through the crowd; and a detachment of the Irregular Troops, with their jester at their head, in a cap made of sheepskin, adorned with three fox-tails, and a vest of undressed leather, drove back the people on either side, as they made their way through the throng with a sort of short run. They had precisely the appearance of banditti, each being dressed and armed according to his own means or fancy; while their huge mustachioes, and the elf locks that escaped from beneath their turbans, added to the ferocious character of their aspect.
The plain on which the Church is situated is thickly wooded in its immediate neighbourhood, and on this occasion was covered with a dense crowd of merry human beings. The same amusements as I have described at the Armenian festival were in full career; but the heavy meaningless dance of the Champs des Morts was here exchanged for the graceful romaïka, which was going forward in every direction.
For every other female whom I saw on the ground, I remarked at least a hundred and fifty Turkish women; and the astonishment excited by the appearance of the Greek lady by whom I was accompanied, and myself among these latter, was most amusing. As the greater number of them had never before seen a Frank lady on horseback, they concluded that we had each lost a leg; and the “Mashallahs!” with which they contemplated our gaiety were innumerable. But as a Turkish woman never scruples to address a stranger in the street; and as our being actually crippled was a matter of uncertainty; they were resolved to satisfy their minds on this very important point; and several of them accordingly addressed themselves to the gentlemen of our party, in order to resolve the doubt; exclaiming with an energy worthy of the occasion: “For the love of God, tell us if your wives have lost a leg, or not!”
When they had been assured to the contrary, their next conclusion was still more amusing. It was clear that none but rope-dancers could balance themselves upon the back of a horse without having one leg on either side of the saddle—ergo, we were collectively, ladies and gentlemen, the identical party of rope-dancers, whom the Sultan had engaged for the marriage festivities of his Imperial daughter: and so perfectly convinced were they of their own sagacity on this second occasion, that I am only surprised that they had sufficient discretion to refrain from requesting us to give them a specimen of our abilities.
The Church of Balouclè stands in the centre of an enclosed court, within which are also situated the houses of the priests. A handsome flight of stone steps leads downward to the portal; and, as you cross the threshold, the interior of the edifice produces on you the effect of something that has sprung into existence at the touch of an enchanter’s wand. It looks as though it were built of porcelain, all is so fresh and so glittering. It is entirely lined with white and gold, and the paint upon the walls is so highly varnished, that you can scarcely distinguish it from the polished marble that composes the screen of the sanctuary; the latticed gallery of the women is fancifully decorated and gilt; and the elegant pulpit is shaped like an inverted minaret.
But the principal attraction of the Church of Balouclè, and that which lends to it its distinguishing character of sanctity, is the Holy Well, dedicated to the Virgin, which, on the occasion of all high festivals, is opened for the benefit and edification of the pious. Situated in a vault immediately beneath the chancel, protected by a balustrade of marble, and lighted by the lamp that is constantly burning before the shrine of the Madonna, rises the spring whose holy and healing qualities are matter of devout belief with the Greeks; and in which the lower orders of the people gravely assert that fish are to be seen swimming about, cooked on one side and crude on the other.
This somewhat extraordinary circumstance is accounted for by a variety of legends; the most comprehensible of the whole being that which affirms that, some holy man or woman having been refused food on this very spot, when on a pilgrimage to a shrine of the Virgin, situated in the neighbourhood, the well-disposed fish, whose pious self-immolation has been thus immortalised, sprang from the waters of the spring, and flung themselves upon the heated ashes of the fire, whereon the churlish host, who refused help to the weary and wayworn pilgrims, had just prepared his own meal. How the travellers were induced to refrain from the savoury repast; and how the fish contrived to return to the stream after being well cooked on one side, the legend sayeth not; and those who are inclined to doubt the fact of their present existence had better make a descent into the vault on the occasion of an Easter festival; and, should they still continue sceptical, after the scene which they will then and there witness, nothing that I can say will awaken their faith.
After having duly flung a few piastres upon the salver held by the priest who guarded the door; and protected on either side by a gentleman, to secure me from the pressure of the crowd, I commenced my slippery descent into the subterranean chapel. The stone steps were running with water, spilt by the eager motions of those who were bearing it away; nor was this all, for, as they handed it to each other over the heads of such as chanced to obstruct their passage, an occasional shower fell upon us from above, whose holiness by no means sufficed to counteract its chill.
When I gained the chapel, and paused to take breath, a most singular scene presented itself. The narrow space was cumbered with individuals, who were shouting, struggling, and even fighting their way, to the margin of the Well: an image of the Virgin tricked out in gold and embroidery, before which burned the lamp that lit up the subterranean, gleamed out in vain from a niche opposite to the spring: the very piety of her votaries had induced them to turn their backs upon her; and I believe that mine was the only eye which rested upon her altar.
Some, who had succeeded in filling the vessels which they had brought with them, were standing bare-headed, throwing the cold stream over their shaven crowns: others, who had suffered from lameness, were emptying their earthen jars upon their feet; some were pouring it down their chests, and others again down their throats.
By the strenuous endeavours of my friends, and the assistance of a sickly-looking priest who was collecting paras among the crowd, I succeeded in obtaining a draught of the water; and, whether it arose from the stream having been thickened by the dipping in of so many vessels, or that the half fried fish imparted to it a disagreeable flavour of the charcoal ashes; or, again, that it was really and simply of very indifferent quality, I cannot take upon me to decide; while I am quite competent to declare that I never swallowed a more unsatisfactory beverage, and that nothing less than a very painful thirst would have induced me to venture upon a second trial.
On escaping from the subterranean, (and it was really an escape)! I went to examine the machine which in all the principal Greek churches acts as the substitute for a bell, whose use is not permitted by the Turks. It is a very inartificial instrument, being merely a bar of iron resting lightly between two perpendicular pieces of timber, which, on being struck with a short bar of cypress-wood, emits a clear ringing sound, that may be heard to a considerable distance. In the smaller churches two sticks are beaten together, but this signal avails only when the congregation is nestled near the walls of the temple.
Having secured the water that they had taken so much trouble to obtain, the enthusiastic and light-hearted Greeks were pouring out of the chapel as we returned; and ere we could mount our horses many of them had already joined the dancers, and were engaged in winding through the graceful mazes of the romaïka, while others were busied in filling their chibouks in the neighbourhood of the coffee-tents.
A mass of heavy vapours, rising up against the wind, and arraying themselves like a host about to do battle, warned us not to linger long at so considerable a distance from home; and, profiting by the intimation of a coming storm, we started off at a gallop, to the increased astonishment of the Turkish women, who were still clustering like bees upon the wall. But our speed availed us nothing: we had not cleared the hills above Kahaitchana when the enemy was upon us; and a tempest of blended hail, rain, and wind bore us company for the remainder of the journey; and thus we were fairly drenched ere we reached Pera, notwithstanding our offerings at the shrine of the Virgin, and our pilgrimage to the Holy Well.