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Scutari, Turkey (Vilayet)

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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SCUTARI (Turkish, Uskudar, anc. Chrysopolis ), a town of Turkey in Asia, on the E. shore of the Bosporus, opposite Con stantinople of which it forms the 9th Cercle Municipale. Its painted wooden houses and white minarets piled upon the slopes of the shore and backed by the cypresses of the great cemetery farther inland present a very picturesque appearance from the sea. The town contains eight mosques, one of them, the Valideh Jami, built in 1547, of considerable beauty. Other remarkable buildings are the vast barracks of Selim III. and a hospital used during the Crimean War (see Nightingale, Florence). The chief industry of Scutari is the manufacture of silk, muslin and cotton stuffs. The population is estimated at 105,50o, of which two-thirds are Mahommedan. The most striking feature of Scutari is its immense cemetery, the largest and most beautiful of all the cemeteries in and around Constantinople; it extends over more than 3 m. of undulating plain behind the town. Between Scutari and Haidar Pasha the English army lay encamped during the Crimean War, and in a cemetery on the Bosporus are buried the 8000 English who died in hospital. At Haidar Pasha is the terminus of the Angora, Konia and Smyrna railways. Chrysopolis ("Golden City"), the ancient name of Scutari, most probably has reference to the fact that there the Persian tribute was collected, as at a later date the Athenians levied there a tenth on the ships passing from the Euxine. Scutari was formerly the post station for Asiatic couriers (Uskudar = courier), as also down to the introduction of steam the terminus of the caravan routes from Syria and Asia.