1. William Makepeace Thackeray Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo, 1845
"I have got a map with squares, fountains, theatres, public gardens and places of Othon markedout. But they only exist in the paper capital - the wretched tumble - down wooden one boasts of none"
2.Hans Christian Andersen, A Poet s Bazaar: A Journey to Greece, Turkey and Up the Danube 1866.
"The theatre is situated at the short distance from the city. It has four tiers of boxes, prettily decorated. But the prettiest sight was the audience in the boxes and pit in their Greek costume [...]. The theatre, as I have said, is a little way out of the city. I had, therefore, a strange effect, to issue of this building in the middle of the night, from a performance of the "Barber of Seville" and la Gazza Ladra" and the find one s self under an oriental firmament, where the stars shone so brightly that we could make out to see the extent of the vast plain encircled by high mountains. It was still and lonely here. One could image one s self transported by a powerful magician to the barren desert. The magnificent decorations of nature mocked the painted scenery. The solitude revealed a drama that showed how frivolous was everything within the place from whence had come. In the humiliating contrast I felt the classic greatness of Greece"
3. Henry Hebert, Lord Carnarvon Reminiscences 1839.
"The flat roofs, the stately minarets, the cypresses, and tufted palms - all that invested it with the character  and the circumstance of the East had gone with its ancient lords. And houses in the modern German style, and absolutely with out effect, had replaced the Asiatic and picturesque irregularities of the old town."