A Few Of The Principal Streets Are Paved With Large Blocks Of
Stone; A Comfort Which A Traveller Little Expects To Find In Arabia.
It
is, on the whole, one of the best-built towns I have seen in the East,
ranking, in this respect, next to Aleppo.
At present, it has a desolate
[p.324] appearance: the houses are suffered to decay; their owners, who
formerly derived great profits from the crowd of visiters which arrived
here at all times of the year, now find their income diminished, and
decline the heavy expense of building, as they know they cannot be
reimbursed by the letting out of apartments. Ruined houses, and walls
wanting repair, are seen in every part of the town; and Medina presents
the same disheartening view as most of the Eastern towns, which now
afford but faint images of their ancient splendour.
The principal street of Medina is also the broadest, and leads from the
Cairo gate to the great mosque: in this street are most of the shops.
Another considerable street, called El Belat, runs from the mosque to
the Syrian gate; but many of its houses are in ruins: this contains also
a few shops, but none are found in other parts of the town; thus
differing from Mekka, which is one continued market. In general, the
latter is much more like an Arab town than Medina, which resembles more
a Syrian city. I had no time to trace all the different quarters of the
town; but I shall here give the names by which they are at present
known.
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