The Antiquities of Constantinople. Gilles Pierre
are so fabulous, that they are no ways to be depended upon. But this I look upon to be an intolerable Blunder, that they place the Church of St. John Baptist within the Walls built by Constantine, whereas for many Years after his Death it continued without the City: Of which, and many other Errors, I shall take Notice in the following History.
Chap. IV.
Of the present Figure, Compass, Length and Breadth of Constantinople.
THE Figure of Constantinople is triangular, the Base of which is that Part of it which lies Westward: The top Angle points to the East, where the Peninsula begins. But both the Sides of this Triangle are not equal; for that Side which lies westward winds round the Angle of the Bay in the Figure of a Half-Moon. At a great Distance from thence, it winds about again from North to South. But the South Side of this Triangle veers about to such a Breadth, that if you should draw a strait Line from one Angle of it to the other, it would cut off a Creek, which, in the Middle of it, is at least a quarter of a Mile over. But that Side which faces the North, and is call’d Ceras, the Bay or Horn, should you draw a strait Line over it from one Angle to another, it would cut off not only the whole Bay, but also a part of Galata. For this Side inflects inwards in such a manner, that from each Point it circulates in the Form of a Bow, having two smaller Windings of the same Figure in the Middle of it, but lies inwardly into the Continent so far, that the two Horns or Ends of the Bow, which includes them, no ways intercept the Prospect of the Angles of the larger Arch. ’Tis upon this Account that Constantinople may rather seem to be of a triarcular, than a triangular Figure. For right Angles never project beyond their Sides, nor do they inflect inwards. But all semicircular Figures are in a manner both convex and concave also. So that if these three Angles, so far as they project beyond the main Body of the City, were divided from it, Constantinople would form a square oblong Figure, little more than a Mile broad, and almost three times as long. But be that as it will, all are of Opinion, that this City ought to be look’d upon to be of a triangular Figure, because it has three Sides; one of which that faces the Propontis, and the other on the side of the Thracian Continent, are of an equal Length; the third, adjoining to the Bay, is about a Mile shorter than the other two. This City is computed to be near thirteen Miles in Compass, although Laonicus Chalcondylus, in his History of the Ottomans, assures us, that Constantinople contain’d in Compass an hundred and eleven Furlongs; the Length of it, extending itself over the Promontory with six Hills, is no more than thirty Furlongs; but if the Figure of it was an equilateral Triangle, it would not be much above nine Miles in Circumference; and could we suppose its hilly Situation to be widen’d into one large Plain, yet then it would not be so large in Compass as the Inhabitants generally reckon it, viz. eighteen Miles. It is observable, that Constantinople does not contain more Bays of Building, as it is situate upon Hills, than it would if it were built upon a Plain; because you cannot so conveniently build upon a Declivity, as you can upon a Level. Nor does the Reason equally hold good, as to the Number of its Houses, and the Number of its Inhabitants. For Constantinople can contain more Men as it is seated upon Hills, than it could if it were seated on a Plain. The Breadth of this City varies in several Places. From the East to the Middle of it, ’tis at least a Mile in Breadth, but in no Place broader than a Mile and a half. It divides itself afterwards into two Branches, where ’tis almost as broad as ’tis long. I can compare it, as to its Figure, to nothing more properly than to an Eagle stretching out his Wings, and looking obliquely to the left, upon whose Beak stands the first Hill, where is the Grand Seignor’s Palace. In his Eye stands the Church of St. Sophia; on the lower part of the Head is the Hippodrom; upon his Neck are the second and third Hills, and the remaining part of the City fill up his Wings, and his whole Body.
Chap. V.
A general Description of Constantinople.
Constantinople takes up in Compass the whole Peninsula, which contains seven Hills, of which the eastern Angle of the City includes one, having its Rise at the Promontory, which Pliny calls Chrysoceras, and Dionysius a Byzantian, Bosporium. The first Hill is divided from the second by a broad Valley; the Promontory of Bosporium contains the other six, extending itself from the Entrance of the Peninsula on the East, full West with a continued Ridge, but somewhat convex’d, and hangs over the Bay. Six Hills and five Valleys shoot from the right Side of it, and ’tis divided only by the third and fifth Valleys on the left Side of it, which is all upon the Descent, and has only some small Hills and Vales, which are more steep than the Hills themselves. It has also two Windings which take their Rise from the Top of the first Hill, from whence it ascends by Degrees almost to another Winding, which begins from the Top of the third Hill, where sinking into a gentle Descent, it admits the Valley, which lies between the third and the fourth Hill. From thence it rises again with a moderate Ascent, and continues upon a Level westward almost to the Urbicion, where it rises again. The Plains adjoining to the Promontory differ as to their Level. Those that divide the Promontory at the Top, and those at the Foot of it, are very uneven in many Places. The Plain at the Top of the first Hill is seven hundred Paces in Length, and two hundred in Breadth. Shooting hence, it rises almost insensibly to the Top of the second Hill, where ’tis five hundred Paces in Breadth, and is all upon the Descent to the Top of that Hill, where the second Valley, which is also shelving and very narrow, takes its Rise. On the third Hill the Plain is above six hundred Paces in Breadth, but somewhat more upon the Level at the Entrance of the third Valley, which is six hundred Paces broad. From hence you rise by a gentle Ascent to the Plain on the Top of the fourth Hill, which is not above two hundred Paces wide. On the fifth Hill it dilates itself to the Breadth of seven hundred Paces. On the Hill, from whence the fifth Valley takes its Rise, ’tis more narrow; and on the sixth Hill ’tis a little upon the Ascent again. As to the Plain, which extends itself between the Sea and the Bottom of the Promontory, that also is not so even in some Places as it is in others; for it is narrower under the Hills, in the Vales ’tis half as wide again. For winding itself from the Promontory, where it begins, over three Valleys, it is widen’d at that Distance into the Breadth of a thousand Paces, though at the Foot of the Hills it is not above an Acre, or a hundred and twenty Foot in Breadth, except at the Bottom of the third and fifth Hills, where ’tis very narrow, but extends itself over the fourth Valley both in Length and Breadth to a great Degree. At the Foot of the sixth Hill it contracts itself again, except at the Foot of two lesser Hills, situated behind the first and second Hills; one of which projects almost to the Sea, the other is at no great Distance from it. But to describe Constantinople in a more easy and comprehensive Manner, I will give the Reader a particular Account of all its Hills and Vales, which indeed make a very lovely and agreeable Prospect. For the six Hills which shoot from the Promontory, (and which for their Likeness you might call Brothers) stand in so regular an Order, that neither of them intercepts the Prospect of the other; so that as you sail up the Bay, you see them all hanging over it in such a manner, that quite round the City you see before you both Sides of every one of them. The first of these Hills jets out to the East, and bounds the Bay; the second and third lie more inward to the South; the others lie more open to the North, so that at one View you have a full Prospect of them. The first lies lower than the second; the second than the third; the fourth, fifth and sixth are in some Places higher, in others somewhat lower than the third, which you may discover by the Level of the Aqueduct. That the first Hill is lower than the third and fourth, may be discover’d by the Tower which supports the Aqueduct, by which the Water is raised into the Air above fifty Foot high. To make this more intelligible, I will divide the City, as to the Length of it, from the Land’s Point on the Shore of the Bosporus, to the Walls on the Neck of the Isthmus, and consider the Breadth of it, as it widens from the Propontis to the Bay called Ceras. The Reason why I divide the City, as to its Breadth, into six Parts, is the natural Situation of the Promontory, which itself is divided into six Hills,