Mavi Boncuk |
The Chicago World's Fair of 1893
"The mosque was apparently a beauty, with a gilded dome 60 feet high and a 135-foot minaret. The call of the faithful to worship from its towers must have added a religious touch to the atmosphere of the presentation. The Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, felt so strongly that Moslems attending the World's Fair should have a place to worship that he personally subscribed part of the money necessary to build it.
A fascinating switch of emphasis occurred at Yom Kippur, when the mosque was temporarily converted to a synagogue and much of the Turkish Village was shut down as Jewish performers attended the service of their faith."
Entrance to the Street of Constantinopole, Chicago, 1893
"A mosque announced the Ottoman presence on the Midway, recalling its more elaborate 1867 counterpart in Paris. The high dome and minaret made the mosque one of the symbols of the Midway while helping to define the entrance to the Turkish Village. The village, also referred to as the Business Street of Constantinople, was designed to recall the Byzantine Hippodrome in the Ottoman capital . The outstanding feature was an obelisk, a wooden replica of the Egyptian obelisk on the Hippodrome in Istanbul, whose lettering had been transferred to plaster casts, carved on the site in Turkey, and shipped to Chicago in sections. A low balustrade, like that around the original, protected the replica. This was the first display at an exposition of Istanbul's Byzantine past as part of Ottoman culture—it had been added, perhaps, because the Egyptian displays, as well as the Tunisian and Algerian pavilions, included material on ancient history. The Hippodrome, however, was not simply meant as a cultural symbol; it included a track for horse races, and it also served as an entertainment center, where visitors could watch "fantasias and exercises by a number of dromedaries, harnessed and caparisoned according to Arabic fashion." The Arab horses and dromedaries were chosen from the best breeds and shipped to Chicago." The Levant Herald and Eastern Express, 16 January 1893
Source
"A mosque announced the Ottoman presence on the Midway, recalling its more elaborate 1867 counterpart in Paris. The high dome and minaret made the mosque one of the symbols of the Midway while helping to define the entrance to the Turkish Village. The village, also referred to as the Business Street of Constantinople, was designed to recall the Byzantine Hippodrome in the Ottoman capital . The outstanding feature was an obelisk, a wooden replica of the Egyptian obelisk on the Hippodrome in Istanbul, whose lettering had been transferred to plaster casts, carved on the site in Turkey, and shipped to Chicago in sections. A low balustrade, like that around the original, protected the replica. This was the first display at an exposition of Istanbul's Byzantine past as part of Ottoman culture—it had been added, perhaps, because the Egyptian displays, as well as the Tunisian and Algerian pavilions, included material on ancient history. The Hippodrome, however, was not simply meant as a cultural symbol; it included a track for horse races, and it also served as an entertainment center, where visitors could watch "fantasias and exercises by a number of dromedaries, harnessed and caparisoned according to Arabic fashion." The Arab horses and dromedaries were chosen from the best breeds and shipped to Chicago." The Levant Herald and Eastern Express, 16 January 1893
Source
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