We now encounter Abbe Sevin, who had come to Istanbul in 1729 to collect rare handwritten books for the king of France. In one of his generally pompous and pedantic letters he recounts a small incident worth notingbecause it reflects two features of the city, namely its stray dogs and the population's talent for witty"When the news was received that an ambassadorial delegation was to arrive from a foreign country, theVizier ordered that all the houses along the route he was to take be painted red (probably with red ochrepaint)... And because here, just as in other places, there are persons who try to make the state's regulations look ridiculous, they painted a large number of stray dogs the same colour and let them loose The author adds this brief sentence to his tale: "This joke almost ended in the mass destruction of the animals."

At about the same time a Dutch artist. Jean Baptiste van Mour, was producing pictures of Istanbul. Unable to earn sufficient money,he died in Istanbul in 1737, but he had committed to canvas a great many details of the Tulip Period, which had changed the appearance of the city, the ceremonies accompanying audiences held by Ahmet Ill in the palace, the banquets organised in places along the Bosphorus, views of Istanbul and the Hippodrome, even Patrona Haul, who, with his rebellion , had succeeded in reducing part of the city to ruins. The period of history at the beginning of the 18th century, felicitously described by Yahya Kemal and Ahmed Refik as 'the Tulip Period" was a period in which good taste and optimism reigned. The developments of this era. which were encouraged by Ahmet Ill and his Grand Vizier,Nev~ehirli Ibrahim Papa and immortalised in the poems of pair Nedim,were a rarely experienced period of peace and tranquillity that lasted until the rebellion of Patrona Haul, when it was all swept away in bloodshed, fire and horror. The picnic places by the Golden Horn and at Kã0ithane had become the city's main centres of entertainment. The Bosphorus and the Kä~ithane Creek were lined with waterside palaces and summerhouses. In the course of the efforts being made in the reign of Mahmut Ito repair the damage caused by the rebellion, the influence of French baroque art, began to make itself increasingly felt. The French merchant Flachat, who came from Lyons and remained in Istanbul for many years, noted in his book of travels that considerable interest was being shown in articles from the West. especially from France. This interest was also focussed on the use of gold leaf in decoration schemes. Flachat. who during his long life made many friends, both in the palace and among the general public, was even able to stroll in the palace because of his friendship with the Kizlara~asi, or chief of the Harem. He notes in his travelogue that he knew a Turk who was extremely intelligent and possessed a remarkable degree of technical knowledge.

The artist A de Favray, in the pictures he painted in 1762. made a great deal of effort to depict the beauty of Istanbul viewed from the sea, from Sarayburnu and particularly from the Bosphorus. Shortly afterwards, in 1763, the city was reduced to ruins by a terrible earthquake and because many buildings, among them the Fatih Mosque, had been damaged beyond repair,it was decided to demolish it. The mosque that was built in its place is the present one. However, in spite of its natural beauty, the magnificence of its buildings and the loveable quality of its more modest districts, Istanbul had not yet achieved the appearance of a really clean city. Baron de Tott, who lavishly praised the beautiful panorama he saw in 1755 went on to complain about the dirtiness of its streets. He described the fire he witnessed on 4 October of the same year. This fire, which reduced Babiâli and the surrounding neighbourhood to ashes, even threatened Ayasofia at one point; The heat of the flames melted the lead covering the cupola, and the molten metal ran down the drainpipes.

Two foreigners of a very different kind are known to have visited Istanbul during the second half of the 18th century, and their works occupy a special place in people's libraries. One of them was Casanova de Seingalt and the other was Donatien Alphonse de Sade, who gave his name to the cult of sadism. Casanova does not mention Istanbul a great deal in his memoirs, but among the rakish adventures filling these volumes is an unpleasant and rather comical incident that happened while he was here. On the other hand, the Marquis de Sade, in one of his books (which is filled with horrifying descriptions) recounts in disgusting detail various lustful scenes that are supposed to have taken place in the sultan's harem.