Cesta do Svaté země a Egypta

by Ida Pfeiffer, Veronika Faktorová (Editor)

Kniha představí výjimečnou rakouskou cestovatelku Idu Lauru Pfeifferovou, která v průběhu 40.–50. let 19. století podnikla několik cest, včetně dvou výprav kolem světa. Během nich navštívila řadu blízkých i vzdálených míst: Palestinu, Egypt, Island, Skandinávii, Chile, Brazílii, Indii, Čínu, Tahiti aj. Své cestovní zážitky a poznatky zveřejnila v několika cestopisech, které si získaly značnou čtenářskou odezvu, Pfeifferová, zvláště od vydání Ženy na cestě kolem světa (Eine Frauenfahrt um die Welt, 1850), patřila k nejpopulárnějším cestopiscům své doby. Cestopis vyšel česky už v roce 1846 zásluhou J. E. Š. Křečka. Komentovaná edice Veroniky Faktorové si klade za cíl přiblížit dílo a osobnost jedné z prvních modeních cestovatelek i zohlednit místo, které obrozenecký překlad tohoto textu zaujímá v kontextu české literatury.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, German Literature, Memoir

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1843

About the author

Ida Laura Pfeiffer was an Austrian traveler and travel book author. She was one of the first female explorers, whose popular books were translated into seven languages.

Reviews

[Lillelara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Perry Whitford]

- begins with a journey from Vienna down the Danube by steamboat into the Black Sea to Constantinople
- 'I wish the represent everything as I found it, as it appeared before my eyes; without adornment indeed, but truly.'
- wild dogs of Constantinople are on every corner, ugly mongrels with the appearance of jackals, make a racket at night but clean the streets by eating the offal:
'A few years ago it was considered expedient to banish these dogs from Constantinople. They were transported to two uninhabited islands in the Sea of Marmora, the males to one and the females to another. But dirt and filth increased in the city to such a degree, that people were glad to have them
back again.'
- the Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, Golgotha and the church of the Holy Sepulchre:
'I was told, that when the Greeks celebrate their Easter here, the ceremonies seldom conclude without much quarrelling and confusion. These irregularities are considerably increased when the Greek Easter happens to fall at the same time as that of the Roman Catholics. On these occasions, there are not only numerous broken heads, but some of the combatants are even frequently carried away dead. The Turks generally find it necessary to interfere, to restore peace and order among the Christians. What opinion can these nations, whom we call Infidels, have of us Christians, when they see with what hatred and virulence each sect of Christians pursues the other ? When will this dishonourable
bigotry cease?'
- mostly dusty and dirty, but the interior of one house in Damascus 'over the whole scene was spread that charm so peculiar to the Orientals, a charm combining the tasteful with the rich and gorgeous.'
- the hardship and compensating joy of travel:
'Although I was at times very badly situated, and had to encounter more hardships and disagreeables than fall to the lot of many a man, I would be thankful that I had had resolution given me to continue my wanderings whenever one of these grand spectacles opened itself before me. What, indeed, are the entertainments of a large town compared to the Delta of the Nile, and many similar scenes ? The pure and perfect enjoyment afforded by the contemplation of the beauty of nature is not for a moment
to be found in the ball-room or the theatre ; and all the ease and luxury in the world should not buy from me my recollections of this journey. '
- Alexandra, then bustling Cairo and the pyramids, the bases of which were burried under sand at that time. How about this for a small sign of how things change?:
'A much more precious fruit, the finest production of Egypt and Syria, almost superior to the pineapple in taste, is the banana, which is so delicate that it almost melts in the mouth. This fruit cannot be dried, and is therefore never exported.'
- the bases of the pyramids and the sphinx were covered at this time
- finally back home to Austria by traveling up through Italy, she saw Naples, Florence, Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, which she ascended, and Rome where she was granted an audience with the Pope because she had made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

[Cem Yüksel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Türkçeye Doğu’ya seyahat diye çevrilmiş. 1842’de Viyana’dan başlayıp Tuna üzerinden İstanbul, Beyrut, Kudüs, Şam, İskenderiye, Kahire ve İtalya’yı içeren bir yolculuğun hatıraları. Kutsal topraklara gitmek arzusu ve büyük bir gezgin dürtüsü ile , o yıllarda fazlasıyla zor olan yolculuğu gerçekleştiren Pleiffer dağa sonraki yolculukları ile de hatırlanadı gezginler arasında bir yer almaya layık. Kişisel gözlemlerini sade bir şekilde yansıtmış. O dönemlerin şartlarını , yaşamını ilk şahitin ağzından okumak için iyi bir kitap.

[Shannan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a while with this one, cross referencing the places and experiences Ida visited resulting in many ChatGPT deep dives. This is such a rich account of the Ottomans, and a lens on ‘the Orient’ as they saw it, the religious tourism, and the cusp of modernity. I definitely want to continue with her next trip to Iceland.

I’m so grateful her story is also available as a well written biography which is an excellent introduction to her works. The first hand account is well worth the time and available as an free translations

[Sarah]

DNF. Picked this up when the writer was mentioned in a history course and she (as a woman adventurer) seemed interesting. While it isn't uninteresting, the heavy-handed racist and classist remarks are woven in with enough frequency that I decided I didn't need to spend several more hours with this woman. None of her opinions should be surprising, considering who she was, and I'm quite aware of the irony of my preferring contemporary, fictional travelogues that were no doubt based on her.

[Sarah F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books. Ida travelled by sea and land to Turkey, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Italy in the 1840s during the plague. She was an observant traveler who articulately documented her daily experiences and thoughts in a personal diary. So, this was her diary.

[Adeliny Mudrauskas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted tho know travel impressions about Turkey, Israel, and Egypt.

[Janelle]

I'm in a quandary with this book. The historical and geographical details are interesting, but boring at the same time. Sometimes boring audiobooks can be useful in putting me to sleep. But this is quite a long book, and if I were to use it for this purpose, it's unlikely that I would be able to take in many of the details and keep track of my listening progress. So I've decided to put it in the too hard basket, and shelve it as DNF.