Constantinople, painted by Warwick Goble, described by Alexander Van MillingenVan Millingen, Alexander
Philosophy
Constantinople, painted by Warwick Goble, described by Alexander Van Millingen
Van Millingen, Alexander
Istanbul (Turkey) -- Description and travel; Istanbul (Turkey) -- History
To the west of the Bucoleon is the beautiful Church of SS. Sergius and
Bacchus, erected by Justinian the Great; for some account of which the
reader is referred to the chapters on the churches of the city. The
district extending thence to the ancient Gate of S. Æmilianus (Daoud
Pasha Kapoussi) is remarkable for having been occupied by the artificial
harbours, constructed, from time to time, on the southern side of the
city in the interest of commerce, or for the use of the imperial navy.
They were four in number, and, notwithstanding the changes of centuries,
they have left their impress upon the ground to a degree which allows
their site and contour to be clearly identified. First in the order of
position, though not of time, came the Harbour of the Emperor Julian,
below the Hippodrome. It has already been noticed in the history of the
making of Constantinople. It was used for some time even after the
Turkish Conquest, but was ultimately abandoned for the deeper water
found along the shores of the Golden Horn. The Harbour of the
Kontoscalion followed; in the quarter which the Greek population still
designates by that old name, but which is commonly known as Koum
Kapoussi. It has been filled in, but the mole remains, as well as a
considerable portion of the wall around the basin of the harbour. The
entrance could be closed against an enemy by great gates of iron bars,
and in bad weather three hundred galleys, of fifty or a hundred pairs of
oars, might be seen taking refuge here, waiting for a favourable wind.
Next in order was the Harbour of Kaisarius, known also as the Neorion or
Dockyard of the Heptascalon, which stood where the Turkish quarter of
Tulbenkdji Djamissi is now situated. But few traces of it are left.
Indeed its position had been forgotten, and its distinctness from the
other harbours along this shore ignored, until 1819, when a great fire
in the district revealed the fact that the quarter of Tulbenkdji
Djamissi stood in the basin of an old harbour, enclosed by a wall built
in three tiers of huge blocks. This agreed with other indications of the
presence of a harbour at this point hitherto left unexplained--a mole in
front of the shore of the quarter, and a gap in the mole forming an
entrance to which corresponded an old opening in the city walls, now
closed by masonry of Turkish construction. It harmonised also with the
description which the historian Pachymeres gives of a harbour
constructed or restored by the Emperor Michael Palæologus on this side
of the city. Here Phocas placed troops to oppose the landing of
Heraclius, and here also the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, in 673,
stationed his ships, armed with Greek fire, to await the fleet of the
Saracens in the first siege of Constantinople by that formidable foe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account