3-077-680 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Broussa, in Asia Minor, the ancient Turkish capital: bird's-eye view of Broussa, 1890. 'The ancient city of Broussa, the second city in population, in Asia Minor, next after Smyrna, is famous for three things: it was the refuge of Hannibal, after his defeat; it was the first capital of the Turkish Sultans, six of whom were buried there; and its hot mineral springs have been celebrated for their curative properties from the most remote antiquity. From this city, which is situated on the slope of the Bithynian Olympus, only seventy miles from Constantinople, on a clear day the snowy summits of the mountains are distinctly visible, for their height is 6400 ft. above the plain. The journey from Constantinople is but of seven hours and a half by steamer over the Gulf of Marmora, the rest by carriage from Mondania, the port of Broussa, over fourteen miles of fine macadamised road through lovely scenery. Our bird's-eye view may give some idea of the exuberant vegetation which surrounds Broussa and the slopes of Mount Olympus, covered to near the snowy summit with trees of the deepest green. Below are wild roses and other flowers perfuming the pathways, and the groves are made vocal by the nightingales which haunt them in the springtime'. From "Illustrated London News", 1890.