In the centre of the castle was an old Christian church, Mohammed II. having conquered the town in the year 865, turned the mihráb from the east towards the Kiblah. Its mihráb and minber are of ancient workmanship, and on the east side is an oratory (mahfil) of most elegant carving. The wood is cypress, nut, and box; it is always closed, and reserved entirely for the Emperor’s use. There are besides three other mahfils or oratories supported by pillars in this mosque, where people are also allowed to pray when there is a great crowd. It has two gates, an elegant mináreh, and cells for students in the courtyard outside; it is covered with lead. In the west suburb are also four mosques, and two in the eastern; the mosque of the tower castle is a beautiful structure with a mináreh much ornamented. The mosque of Khatúnieh was built by the mother of Selím I. who was born here, it is extremely well endowed, the market called Púlta-bazárí belongs to its foundation, with many cultivated villages. The cupola is illuminated by candles every night, its elegant mináreh pierces the sky. The gate and walls of this mosque are built of black polished stone, and white marble, in alternate rows; it was built in the year 920. The mosque of Súleimán Beg on the west of the mosque of Khatúnieh, but at a mile distance from it on the place of Kawák, has one mináreh covered with lead.
The mosque of Ayá Sofiyáh is on the seashore on the west side, it was built in the time of the Infidels. Kúrd Alí-beg took it out of the hands of the Christians, in the year 951 (1573), and adorned it with a fine minber and mahfil; it is beautified with many marble and granite columns, which cannot be described with sufficient praise. The mihráb and minber are in the ancient style, and it is surrounded by vineyards and plantations of olives.
The mosque of Wárdogdi-Beg stands half a mile distance south of the mosque of Khatúnieh in the quarter of Tekfúr-seraï, it was raised from a mesjíd into a mosque by Torghúd-beg in 985 (1577). It has a well proportioned gate and mináreh. The new mosque was formerly a church, and stands in a lofty situation. The mosque of Iskender Páshá, known by the name of Káfir-Meidání, (the Infidel’s place) has its cupola entirely covered with lead, with a well proportioned mináreh.
Description of the Scientific Colleges, Baths, Market-places, &c.
Outside of the courtyard of the mosque of the middle castle is the college of Mohammed II. with a great number of cells and students. There is a general lecture (Dersí-a’ám), the lecturer holds the degree of a Molla; it is a mine of poets, and meeting-place of wits. The college of Katúnieh is adorned with cells on four sides; the students receive fixed quantities of meat and wax for their subsistence. The college of Iskender Páshá on the north side of the mosque, that bears the same name, is richly endowed with stipends for the students. The reading-houses of Trebisonde are those of the middle castle, at the mosque of Mohammed II., where reading after the manner of Ibn Kether is introduced; that of Khatúnieh, where works on the Korán are read after the seven established methods of Jeserí and Shátebieh; and that of Iskender Páshá close to its mosque. The abecedarian schools for boys are that of Mohammed II. in the middle castle; the school of the new mosque, a school so blessed, that a boy who has been taught here to read the Bismillah (in God’s name!) cannot fail to be a learned man; the elegant school of Khatúnieh on the west side of the mosque is built of stone, with a cupola, where orphans are supplied with mental and bodily food, with dresses on great festivals and presents besides; and the schools of Iskender Páshá; these are the most celebrated.
There is a pleasant double bath for the use of both sexes, in the middle castle near the gate which leads to the lower castle.
The bath of the tower is on the north wall of the innermost or tower castle; it is a single one, and is said to have existed in the time of the Infidels. The bath of the Imáret, built by Khatúnieh mother of Selím I. The bath of the lower castle is a single one, that of Iskender Páshá is double; the bath of the Infidels is between the New Friday quarter and the Infidels’ place, and the bath of Tekfúr-seraï. There are besides at Trebisonde two hundred and forty-five private baths, and a great number of Kháns. The Khán of Khátúnieh has a stable equal to that of Antar, which will accommodate one hundred horses; besides many other Kháns for merchants and single persons.
Of the Market-places, the first is outside of the gate of the wax-manufactory. There is a well-built Bezestán where the Arabian and Persian merchants reside, who are extremely rich and wealthy. In the middle castle the market called the small market, is furnished with every thing; its shops amount to the number of eighty.
The Imárets are those of Mohammed II. in the middle castle, accommodating both rich and poor. The Imáret of Khátúnieh, close to the mosque, is not to be equalled, even at Trebisonde; passengers and boatmen may dine here at their pleasure; there is an oven for baking white bread, and a cellar (kílár) for keeping the provisions of the Imáret. Near the kitchen is the eating-place for the poor, and the students have a proper dining-hall. Every day, in the morning, and at noon a dish of soup and a piece of bread is provided for each, and every Friday a Zerde Pilaw, and Yakhní (stewed meat); these regulations are to remain in force, as long as it pleases God.