The Antiquities of Constantinople. Gilles Pierre
little less than six thousand Paces in Compass, but is at present more closely straiten’d, since the Caravansera’s have been built there by the Sultan Solyman, and the burying Place for the Women (which is at least half the Ground) has been taken out of it and enclosed. The left Side of the Promontory, which lies behind the third Hill to the South, jets out with two lesser Hills; from one of which that shoots Eastward, the Side of the Promontory which winds round Westward to the other Hill, which is seated a little above the Foot of the Promontory; and at the Bottom of this Hill, the Promontory admits the third Valley, which lies behind it, and from thence stretches full North. The left Side therefore of the third Hill hath a double Descent; the one towards the South, which is six hundred Paces high, another extending itself South South-west, seven hundred Paces high; but at full West it falls very short of that Height. The Plain that lies between the back Southern Parts of the third Hill, and the Shore of the Propontis, is in no part of it less than three hundred Paces broad, nor above seven hundred Paces long. The Plain of the Valley which encloses the Foot of the Hill Westward, and which divides the seventh Hill from the Promontory, reaching from the Shore of the Propontis, where the Walls are not encompassed by the Sea, is almost upon a Level, and is in every part of it five hundred Paces in Breadth. The three Hills I have mention’d, may very properly be called the Promontory of the Bosporus; for they hang over the Sea in such a manner, that whether you sail to Constantinople out of the Black Sea, or the Propontis, you may see them at a great Distance, prominent over the Chaps of the Bosporus. The third Valley seems to separate the other three Hills, which lie farther into the Continent from these. The Reason why I place six Hills in the Promontory of the Bosporus is, because these latter Hills all stand in a Row near the Bay, and are join’d together both at the Top and the Sides of them. The Plain which unfolds itself on the Ridge of the third Hill, descends gently into a Plain which hangs over the third Valley, and is six hundred and twenty Paces in Length, and as many in Breadth.
Chap. XII.
Of the third Valley.
THE third Valley, which lies between the third and the fourth Hill, seems to be a double Valley; for in the Middle of it, it rises high, which makes it doubtful whether it be a part of the Valley, or the Promontory. That the Height of it is a part of the Valley, seems plain from the Height of the Arches, which reach from one Side of the Valley to the other; and it may be look’d upon to be the Ridge of the Promontory, from the Descent of the extreme Parts of it falling to the right and left, on each Side of the Promontory. On the right Side of which, it descends into a very low Plain, which, at its first Entrance, is three hundred Paces broad, and continues on upon a Level to the Length of five hundred Paces more; and though it sinks at Bottom into an equal Depth, yet the Pitches or Sides of it, in some Places, are higher than in others. For where the Plain is most hollow, there one of the Sides of it is three times higher than the other. From this Plain you ascend by easy Steps to the Top of the Middle of the Valley, which is six hundred Paces wide, except that small part of it in the Middle, where it is not above four hundred Paces in Breadth. Through the Top of this Valley, or Promontory, run the Arches of an Aqueduct from the fourth to the third Hill, of the same Height, at the Top of them, with the Hills themselves. The Altitude of these Arches discovers how great the Descent is from them. For though they are alike equal in Height at the Top of them, yet this Height is very different, according to the Difference of their Situations. For they are very high at the Top of the Valley, which is a plain level Ground, but upon the Descent of the Hills not near so high, and continue to the Length of eight hundred Paces in the same Height, though the higher they stand upon these Hills, they are less tall. The Top of this Valley or Promontory, descends with a gentle Fall of seven hundred Paces into a Plain, which divides the Promontory from the seventh Hill, and from thence extends itself to the Propontis. The City from the Bay to the Propontis, passing thro’ the third Valley, is more than ten Furlongs in Breadth.
Chap. XIII.
Of the fourth Hill.
THE fourth Hill is enclosed with two Valleys, the Ridge of the Promontory, and the Shore of the Bay. Upon the Side of it stands the Tomb of Mahomet, (who took Constantinople) several Caravansera’s and Bagnio’s. It is above three thousand six hundred Paces in Compass. The Length, from the Ridge of it to the Bay, is a thousand Paces; the Breadth of it, from East to West, is at least eight hundred. As you take a View of it from the Top, stretching in a Square towards the Bay, you perceive it to end in two Windings, though very different from each other. For that which points Northward stretches on in a continued Ridge, and has its Descents on both Sides, whereas that which shoots Eastward lies so low, that it seems to be only an Ascent to the other. At the End of it it winds Westward, where it forms a little Valley. This Hill Eastward is bounded by a Valley, and is parted from the third Hill; on the North by the Plain on the Shore, on the East partly by a Valley, which divides it from the fifth Hill, and partly by the winding of the Promontory, which rises in so gradual and delectable a manner, from the Top of the fourth to the Top of the fifth Hill, that you discover the Ridge of it to be uneven, more by a nice Discernment of the Eye, than by any Difficulty in walking it. For these Hills are join’d together in such a manner, that they seem to lie upon a Level. They are both of them one Plain, which, covering the Top of the fourth Hill, is not above four hundred Paces in Length, nor more than two hundred in Breadth, tho’ afterwards, when continu’d to the fifth Hill, it widens into the Breadth of five hundred Paces. The fourth Hill, tho’ it is equal in Height to any of the other six, yet its Ascents, whether they lie in a strait Line, or more obliquely, are more moderate, by reason it is a long Tract of Ground with three Declivities. The first of which, thro’ the Length of the whole, descends from the Southwest full North more than a thousand Paces; two hundred of which rising from the Sea Shore are a more easy Ascent, the rest rise so very gently that you can scarce perceive them, although the uppermost hundred of them, which reach to the Top of the Hill, are very steep. The cross Descent which runs athwart the Breadth of the Hill is double, one of which falls Westward; the other, which shelves Eastward, rises from the Valley, which divides the third and fourth Hill. From the highest part of this Valley you climb an Ascent two hundred Paces in Height. Below the Top of it is another Ascent, which is five hundred Paces high, one hundred of which rising from the Bottom are very steep. The Height of the rest, which are an easy Ascent, you discover by the Level of the Aqueduct. From the Bottom of the Valley you ascend four hundred Paces, the first hundred and eighty of which are very steep, after which you may walk two hundred more almost upon a Level. From hence you rise to the Middle of it, which is higher, and is a hundred Paces in Breadth. It is also elevated eight hundred Paces in Length, from the Top of it to the Bottom. From hence you descend two hundred Paces Westward to the lowest Part of the Valley, which divides the fourth and the fifth Hill, which is all a narrow Piece of Ground, and about four hundred Paces in Length. The first two hundred Paces upon the Shore of the Bay are all upon a Level; but it is an Uncertainty whether they are a part of the Valley, or the Sea Shore. For this Valley is enclosed in such a manner by these two Hills, as the fourth is bounded by the Plain upon the Shore, which is two hundred Paces broad, whereas the fifth does scarce descend so far. The following eight hundred Paces are much upon the same Level, the last four hundred of which, stretching to the Top of the Promontory, are very steep. The Plain upon the Shore, passing between the Bay and the fourth Hill, is of a different Breadth. For that part of it which extends itself to the South-western Point of the Hill, is four hundred Paces broad, whereas that part of it which extends itself to the Northern Point, is no more in Breadth than two hundred Paces. In short, such is the Situation of the fourth Hill, that when you sail along the Bay, you would take it to be an advanced part of the third Valley. For the Top of this Hill runs so far Southward, that its Descents, shelving very moderately, seem almost upon a Level; whereas the Top of the fifth Hill, which is of the same Height, projects beyond the fourth directly