Constantinople, Chapter 20 summary
Chapter 20 of 30 · 16 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 20, the narrator attends the Beïram through the Sardinian legation and watches Abdul-Medjid travel to prayer before receiving ceremonial homage. The reception displays the court’s wealth and strict hierarchy, while the sultan’s responses to a religious leader and an unwanted petitioner briefly interrupt his otherwise motionless bearing.
What happens
- After Ramadan, bright new clothes fill the streets, and the Sardinian legation enables the narrator to attend the Beïram.
- Before dawn, the narrator crosses Pera, boards the embassy’s caique, and reaches the crowded palace landing.
- He watches the richly dressed imperial procession accompany the sultan to Hagia Sophia and return about an hour afterward.
- Abdul-Medjid sits outside a kiosk, where senior dignitaries kiss his boot while he remains almost entirely motionless.
- The sultan helps the Scheick ul-islam rise but rejects the former sharif of Mecca and two accompanying young men.
- Lower officials kiss the imperial sash, and the narrator returns to Pera for lunch when the reception ends.
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In this chapter
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What do officials of lower rank kiss during the reception?
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“Constantinople, Chapter 20 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/pages/constantinople-chapter-20-summary.
Library of Alexandria. (2026). Constantinople, Chapter 20 summary. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/constantinople-chapter-20-summary
“Constantinople, Chapter 20 summary.” Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/constantinople-chapter-20-summary.
@misc{constantinople_chapter_20_summary_2026,
title = {Constantinople, Chapter 20 summary},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/constantinople-chapter-20-summary}
}
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