Great Cities Through Travelers' Eyes Read online

  The Meccans are very elegant and clean in their dress, and most of them wear white garments, which you always see fresh and snowy. They use a great deal of perfume and kohl and make free use of toothpicks of green arak-wood. The Meccan women are extraordinarily beautiful and very pious and modest. They too make great use of perfumes to such a degree that they will spend the night hungry in order to buy perfumes with the price of their food. They visit the mosque every Thursday night, wearing their finest apparel; and the whole sanctuary is saturated with the smell of their perfume. When one of these women goes away the odour of the perfume clings to the place after she has gone.

  1503 LUDOVICO OF VARTHEMA

  Ludovico of Varthema (c. 1470–1517), an adventurer from Bologna, Italy, became the first Westerner to visit Mecca on pilgrimage. It needed all his ingenuity to escape once he had been identified as an Italian.

  On 18th May we entered into Mecca from the north, and afterwards we descended into the plain.… We found the caravan from Cairo, which had arrived eight days before us…. In the said caravan there were sixty-four thousand camels and one hundred Mamluks.… Truly I never saw so many people collected in one spot as during the twenty days I remained there. Of these people some had come for the purposes of trade, and some on pilgrimage for their pardon.…

  In the midst of the city there is a very beautiful temple, similar to the Colosseum of Rome, but not made of such large stones, but of burnt bricks, and it is round in the same manner; it has ninety or one hundred doors around it, and is arched, and has many of these doors. On entering the temple you descend ten or twelve steps of marble, and here and there…stand men who sell jewels, and nothing else. And when you have descended the said steps you find the said temple all around, and…the walls, covered with gold. And under the arches there stand about 4,000 or 5,000 persons, men and women, which persons sell all kinds of odoriferous things; the greater part are powders for preserving human bodies, because pagans come there from all parts of the world. Truly, it would not be possible to describe the sweetness and the odours which are smelt within this temple. It appears like a spicery full of musk, and of other most delicious odours.…

  Having gone to make some purchases for my captain, I was recognized by a Moor who looked me in the face and said to me: ‘Where are you from?’ I answered: ‘I am a Moor.’ He replied: ‘You are not telling the truth.’ I said to him: ‘By the head of Mahomet, I am a Moor.’ He answered: ‘Come to my house,’ and I went with him. When I had arrived at his house, he spoke to me in Italian, and told me he knew that I was not a Moor, and that he had been in Genoa and in Venice, and gave me proofs of it. When I heard this, I told him that I was a Roman, and that I had become a Mameluke at Cairo. He was much pleased, and treated me with very great honour.… When he saw that I displayed hostility to the Christians, he showed me yet greater honour, and told me everything point by point.… I said to him: ‘O, friend, I beg you to tell me some mode or way by which I may escape from the caravan, because my intention is to go to find those beings who are hostile to the Christians; for I assure you that, if they knew what I am capable of, they would send to find me even to Mecca.’ He answered me: ‘By the faith of our prophet what can you do?’ I answered him that I was the most skilful maker of large mortars in the world. Hearing this he said: ‘Mahomet be ever praised, who has sent us such a man to serve the Moors and God.’ So he concealed me in his house with his wife. And he begged me that I would induce our captain to drive out from Mecca fifteen camels laden with spices, and this he did in order not to pay thirty seraphim to the sultan for the toll. I replied that if he would save me in this house, I would enable him to carry off a hundred camels if he had so many, for the Mamluks have this privilege. And when he heard this he was much pleased.

  1767 CARSTEN NIEBUHR

  The German mathematician and explorer Carsten Niebuhr (1733–1815) was the sole survivor of a scientific expedition in Arabia in 1762–67 sent by the Danish king. Though unable to visit Mecca itself, he described what he gleaned about it from others who had.

  This city is situated in a dry and barren tract of country, a full day’s journey from Jidda.… In the summer months, the heat is excessive; and, to avoid and moderate it as much as possible the inhabitants carefully shut their windows and water the streets. There have been instances of persons suffocated in the middle of the streets by the burning wind called Samoum or Samieli.

  As a great part of the first nobility in Hedjas live at Mecca, the buildings are better here than in any other city in Arabia. Among its elegant edifices, the most remarkable is the famous Kaba or house of God, which was held in high veneration by the Arabians even before the days of Mahomet.

  My curiosity would have led me to see this sacred and singular structure; but no Christian dares enter Mecca. Not that there is any such express prohibition in the laws of Mahomet, or that liberal-minded Mahometans could be offended; but the prejudices of the people in general…make them think that it would be profaned by the feet of infidel Christians. They even persuade themselves that Christians are restrained from approaching it by a supernatural power. They tell of an infidel who audaciously advanced within sight of Mecca but was there attacked by all the dogs of the city, and was so struck with the miracle, and with the august aspect of the Kaba, that he immediately became Mussulman….

  Although the Mahometans permit not Europeans to visit Mecca, they make no difficulty of describing the Kaba to them. I even obtained a drawing of that holy place, which I had afterwards an opportunity of correcting, from another draught by a Turkish painter. This painter gained his livelihood by making such draughts of the Kaba and selling them to pilgrims.

  To judge from those designs…the Kaba must be an awkward shapeless building; a fort of square tower it is, covered on the top with a piece of black gold-embroidered silk stuff. This stuff is wrought at Kahira, and changed every year at the expense of the Turkish sultan. The gutters upon this building are of pure gold.

  What seems to be most magnificent about this sacred edifice, is the arcades around the square in which the Kaba stands. They speak, in terms of high admiration, of a vast number of lamps and candlesticks of gold and silver with which those arcades are illuminated. However, even by these accounts…the riches of the Kaba are far from equal in value to what is displayed in some Catholic churches in Europe.

  In the Kaba is particularly one singular relic, which is regarded with extreme veneration. This is the famous black stone, said to have been brought by the angel Gabriel…. The stone, according to the account of the clergy, was, at first, of a bright white colour, so as to dazzle the eyes at the distance of four days journey; but it wept so long and so abundantly for the sins of mankind, that it became at length opaque, and at last absolutely black.…

  The Arabs venerate the Kaba, as having been built by Abraham, and having been his house of prayer. Within the same enclosure is the well of Zemzem, valued for the excellence of its water, and no less for its miraculous origin: Hagar, when banished by her master, set little Ismael down here while she should find some water to quench his thirst. Returning after an unsuccessful search, she was surprised to see a spring bursting up from the ground between the child’s legs. That spring is the present well of Zemzem.

  Another ornament of the Kaba, is a row of metal pillars surrounding it. These pillars are joined by chains, on which hang a vast number of silver lamps. The porticoes or arcades above mentioned are designed to protect the pilgrims from the torrid heat of the day.… The merchants, of whom great numbers accompany the caravans, expose their wares for sale under those arcades.

  1853 RICHARD BURTON

  The British explorer and translator Richard Burton (1821–1890) sensationally visited Mecca in 1853, disguised as an Afghan Muslim, and was able to measure and sketch the Kaaba, at great risk to his life.

  After a journey of twenty hours across the desert, we passed the barriers which mark the outermost limit of the sacred city, and ascending some giant steps, pi
tched our tents on a plain, or rather plateau, surrounded by barren rock, some of which, distant, but a few yards, mask from view the birthplace of the Prophet. It was midnight; a few drops of rain were falling, and lightning played around us. Day after day we had watched its brightness from the sea, and many a faithful haji had pointed out to his companions those fires which were Heaven’s witness to the sanctity of the spot. ‘Alhamdu Lillah!’ Thanks be to God! we were now at length to gaze upon the Kiblah, to which every Mussulman has turned in prayer since before the days of Muhammed, and which, for long ages before the birth of Christianity was reverenced by the Patriarchs of the East. Soon after dawn arose from our midst the shout of ‘Labbaik! Labbaik!’ and passing between the rocks, we found ourselves in the main street of Mecca, and approached the ‘Gateway of Salvation’, one of the thirty-nine portals of the ‘Temple of Salvation’.

  On crossing the threshold we entered a vast unroofed quadrangle, a mighty amplification of the Palais Royal, having on each side of its four sides a broad colonnade, divided into three aisles by a multitude of slender columns, and rising to the height of about thirty feet. Surmounting each arch of the colonnade is a small dome: in all there are a hundred and twenty, and at different points arise seven minarets, dating from various epochs, and of somewhat varying altitudes and architecture. The numerous pigeons which have their home within the temple have been believed never to alight upon any portion of its roof, thus miraculously testifying to the holiness of the building. This marvel, however, of late years having been suspended, many discern another omen of the approach of the long-predicted period when unbelievers shall desecrate the hallowed soil.

  In the centre of the square area rises the far-famed Kabah, the funereal shade of which contrasts vividly with the sunlit walls and precipices of the town. It is a cubical structure of massive stone, the upper two-thirds of which are mantled by a black cloth embroidered with silver, and the lower portion hung with white linen. At a distance of several yards it is surrounded by a balustrade provided with lamps, which are lighted in the evening, and the space thus enclosed is the circuit ground along which, day and night, crowds of pilgrims, performing the circular ceremony of Tawaf, realize the idea of perpetual motion. We at once advanced to the black stone embedded in the angle of the Kabah, kissed it, and exclaimed ‘Bismillah wa Allahu Akbar’ – ‘In God’s name, and God is Greatest.’ Then we commenced the usual seven rounds, three at a walking pace, and four at a brisk trot. Next followed two prayer-flections at the tomb of Abraham, after which we drank of the water of Zamzam, said to be the same which quenched the thirst of Hagar’s exhausted son.

  Besides the Kabah, eight minor structures adorn the quadrangle, the well of Zamzam, the library, the clockroom, the triangular staircase and four ornamental resting-places for the orthodox sects of Hanafi, Shafi, Maliki and Hanbali.

  We terminated our morning duties by walking and running seven times along the streets of Safa and Marwa, so named from the flight of seven steps at each of its extremities. After a few days spent in visiting various places of interest, such as the slave-market and forts, and the houses of the Prophet and the caliphs Ali and Abu Bakr, we started on our six hours’ journey to the mountain of Arifat, an hour’s sojourn at which, even in a state of insensibility, confers the rank of haji. It is a mountain spur of about a hundred and fifty feet in height, presenting an artificial appearance from the wall encircling it and the terrace on its slope, from which the iman delivers a sermon before the departure of his congregation for Mecca. His auditors were, indeed, numerous, their tents being scattered over two or three miles of the country.…

  On 5th June, at sunset, commencing our return, we slept at the village of Muzdalifah, and there gathered and washed seven pebbles of the size of peas, to be flung at three piles of whitewashed masonry known as the Satans of Muna. We acquitted ourselves satisfactorily of this duty on the festival of 6th June, the 10th day of the Arabian month Zu’lhijah. Each of us then sacrificed a sheep, had his hair and nails cut, exchanged the ikram for his best apparel, and embracing his friends, paid them the compliments of the season. The two following days the Great, the Middle and the Little Satan were again pelted, and, bequeathing to the unfortunate inhabitants of Muna the unburied and odorous remains of nearly a hundred thousand animals, we returned, eighty thousand strong, to Mecca. A week later, having helped to insult the tumulus of stones which marks, according to popular belief, the burial place of Abulahab, the unbeliever, who we learn from the Koran, has descended into hell with his wife, gatherer of sticks, I was not sorry to relinquish a shade temperature of 120 degrees and wend my way to Jeddah en route for England, after delegating to my brethren the recital of a prayer in my behalf at the Tomb of the Prophet in Medina.

  MEXICO CITY

  Mexico City was established in the early 16th century when the Spanish conquistadors captured the old Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, whose size and prosperity amazed them. Nevertheless, they razed the city, drained the site and built their own colonial city on top.

  In the 19th century, Mexico City, capital of an independent nation from 1821, displayed the relics of its colonial past, with Baroque public buildings, many monasteries and little industry.

  The capital was the scene of intense fighting during the Mexican Revolution (1910–20), but the population expanded with many immigrants from the countryside. Like Havana, it became a playground for wealthy Americans.

  1520 HERNÁN CORTÉS

  Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), leader of the Spanish conquistadors in Mexico, described the impressive Aztec capital Tenochtitlán in vivid terms in a letter to his king, Charles I of Spain (better known as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V).

  The great city is situated in a salt lake, two leagues from the mainland. There are four entrances, formed by artificial causeways, each as wide as two spears’ length. The city is as large as Seville or Cordoba; its principal streets are very wide and straight; some of these, and all the inferior ones, are half land and half water, and are navigated by canoes. All the streets at intervals have openings through which the water flows, crossing from one street to another; and at these openings there are wide bridges, well built of timber of great strength; on many of these bridges ten horses can go abreast.…

  This city has many public squares where markets are held continuously. There is one square twice as large as that of the city of Salamanca, surrounded by porticoes where more than 60,000 souls come each day to buy and sell; and where are found all kinds of merchandise: food, jewels of gold and silver, lead, brass, copper, tin, precious stones, bones, shells, snails and feathers. There are also wrought and unwrought stone, bricks burnt and unburnt, timber hewn and unhewn, of different sorts. There is a street for game birds; they also sell the skins of some birds of prey, with their feathers, head, beak and claws. There are also sold rabbits, hares, deer and little dogs raised for eating. There is an herb street, where may be obtained all sorts of roots and medicinal herbs. There are apothecaries’ shops, where prepared medicines, liquids, ointments and plasters are sold; barbers’ shops, where they wash and shave the head; and restaurateurs.… Wood and coal are seen in abundance, and earthenware braziers for burning coals; mats for beds, seats, halls and bedrooms.

  There are all kinds of green vegetable, fruits, honey and wax from bees, and from the stalks of maize which are as sweet as the sugar-cane; honey is also extracted from the plant called maguey, which is superior to sweet or new wine; from the same plant they extract sugar and wine. Skeins of cotton thread of all colours are sold in one quarter of the market, which resembles the silk market at Granada, although the former is supplied more abundantly. Painters’ colours, as numerous as can be found in Spain, and as fine shades; deerskins dressed and undressed, dyed different colours; earthenware of a large size and excellent quality; large and small jars, jugs, pots, bricks and endless variety of vessels, all made of fine clay, and all or most of them glazed and painted; maize or Indian corn, in the grain and in the form of bread; pa
tés of birds and fish; great quantities of fish – fresh, salt, cooked and uncooked; the eggs of hens, geese and other birds in great abundance, and cakes made of eggs; finally, everything that can be found throughout the whole country is sold in the markets….

  This city contains many temples, or houses, for their idols, very handsome edifices; in the principal ones reside religious persons of each sect. They dress in black, and never cut or comb their hair from the time they enter the priesthood until they leave it; and all the sons of the principal inhabitants are placed in the temples and wear the same dress from the age of seven or eight years until they are married.…

  Among these temples there is one which far surpasses all the rest, whose grandeur no human tongue can describe, for within its lofty wall there is room for a town of 500 families. The enclosure contains handsome edifices, with large halls and corridors, in which the priests reside. There are forty towers, lofty and well built, the largest of which has fifty steps leading to its main body, and is higher than the tower of the principal tower of the church at Seville.…

  Along one of the causeways that lead into the city are laid two pipes, constructed of masonry, each of which is two paces in width, and about five feet in height. An abundant supply of excellent water is conveyed by one of these pipes and distributed about the city, where it is used by the inhabitants for drink and other purposes. The other pipe is kept empty until the former requires to be cleansed, when the water is let into it and continues to be used till the cleaning is finished. As the water has to be carried over bridges on account of the salt water crossing its route, reservoirs resembling canals are constructed on the bridges, through which the fresh water is conveyed…. People carry fresh water in canoes through all the streets for sale, taking it from the aqueduct in the following manner: the canoes pass under the bridges on which the reservoirs are placed, when men stationed above fill them with water, for which service they are paid.