They expressed their displeasure at being unable to find the pretty views and the orderliness of European cities in Istanbul, while on the other hand the Dutchman Cornelis de Bruyn had greatly admired "the world's most beautiful port'. The latter, who visited Istanbul in 1680. in spite of all his good intentions fell ill before he was able to carry out much work, and was only able to draw a few good pictures. Among the pictures in his travelogue is a broad panorama depicting Istanbul from the Galata side, and this picture can be described as a successful work of art.

A rich and colourful description of everything to do with Istanbul in the 17th century is to be found in the first volume of the book of travels of a distinguished Turkish traveller known as Evliya celebi. The latter, who is thought to have been born in 1611 and to have died in or around 1680, dealt with the features of Istanbul at that time in a truly encyclopaedic manner. We learn from him how, just before the sultan was due to return from his Revan (Iran) campaign, its buildings were repainted and spruced up in a very short space of time, how a coast road was built which ran parallel to the Sea of Marmara along the foot of the city walls from Sarayburnu to Yedikule. Again, we learn about palaces the whereabouts of which are unknown today. If we regard the Ibrahim Pa~a Palace, standing on one side of Sultanahmet Square (and of which half has undergone considerable changes) as an exception, we can obtain information about the Mihrimah Sultan Palace in Bayezit and the palace of Siyavu~ Pa~a, with its three hundred rooms, seven Turkish baths and bay windows on enclosed balconies, which "had the whole sea at its feet, and kitchens and stables the like of which would not be seen even in the royal pa!ace". No trace remains of either of these palaces. Evliya ceiebi also describes, in minute detail, the social topography of Istanbul; this is done in a suave, tongue- in-cheek manner. The famous taverns of Galata are described in the following words; "Behind the inner wall of the city there are two hundred or so disreputable taverns, one on top of the other, and in each one of them five or six hundred sinners are guzzling, swilling their liquor and raising their voices in such a drunken cacophony that it defies description." In Evliya celebi's time the Yahya Efendi picnic place in Besiktas was described by him as "a narrow valley with green turf in which the sun never shows itself so thickly adorned is it with planes, willows, gum trees, cypresses and walnuts."

Another product of Europe's interest in Istanbul was the work of Matthaeus Merian (1593-1650). Merian had produced a number of etchings in which genera! views of Europe's main cities were depicted and when there were published in volumes as a series, a view of Istanbul was added to the set. This engraving, which is 70cm in length and was published in 1653, like Lunch's broad panorama, claims to represent a view of Istanbul from the heights of Galata and Beyoqlu. However, the view of Galata in the foreground bears no resemblance whatsoever to that district. It does, however, convey the main feature of the city stretching along the side of the Golden Horn, the silhouettes of its great mosques which appear to "crown" its heights. This engraving, of Merian's was reproduced many times in the years that followed and it was even placed below the map of Istanbul contained in atlases published in Number 9 . This engraving was the first of a number of strange 18th century engravings depicting Istanbul as a city consisting only of minarets.

At the beginning of the 18th century another Frenchman, Paul Lucas, made a detailed study of the Turkish aspect of the city and on 1 July 1715 he witnessed the fire that cut a great swathe through the city from the Old Palace in Bayezit as far as Kumkapi, destroying 15,000 houses in the process. The beauty of the city's location was described by the French nobleman Comte de Caylus in 1716; "minarets rise at intervals among the small, unassuming houses". Indeed, strangely enough.it would seemthat in the whole of Turkish architecture it was only the minarets that appealed to the taste of this art critic. As Comte de Caylus describes a fire that destroyed 7000 homes, he also mentions the dangercaused by brigands who took advantage of the panic and chaos that always accompanies such disasters to commit various offences. On the other hand we gain what is perhaps the very first information from a European about prostitution in Istanbul. According to Caylus, it was possible, by slipping some money into the hand of one of the employees of the Galata Palace (which was close to the French embassy) to obtain the services of a woman. Judging by the fact that, in older Turkish documents, there are references to so-called concubines, purchased in order "to gain experience" and a few days after this had been"accomplished",being returned to their owners in return for a fee and a gift for the woman in question it is quite obvious that prostitution had existed for a long time in this big, cosmopolitan city and in Beyoglu in particular. At the beginning of the 18th century an attractive young Englishwoman. Lady Montague, described Istanbul in letters far superior to Caylus's dull descriptions, letters that matched the warm. lively personality of their author. This lady was the wife of the English ambassador, and she had the following to say about Istanbul: "It is an extremely large city. The fact that its site is not a level one makes it look even bigger. Here the elegant gardens, pine and cypress trees, palaces, mosques and other public buildings are set out in the well-arranged manner of pieces of china and porcelain in a glass-fronted cupboard." After referring to Ayasofia, she then precedes to a description of "other Turkish mosques which I liked much more". This young Englishwoman, who accompanied a bridal party to a Turkish bath and admired everything about Istanbul, made a great deal of effort to correct some of the erroneous impressions that existed about the Turks and about Istanbul "because I have become accustomed to the air, have learnt the language and like this place very much."