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
Of the historical events of which the Golden Horn has been the theatre,
the most important are: first, the attack upon the walls along this side
of the city, in 1203, and again in 1204, by the Venetian fleet which
accompanied the Fourth Crusade; second, the transportation by Sultan
Mehemet into its waters in 1453, of warships over the hill that
separates the harbour from the Bosporus. The movements of the Venetian
fleet and of the army which accompanied it can be followed step by step,
so minute is the description of Ville-Hardouin and so unaltered the
topography of the country. Upon approaching the city the invaders put in
at San Stefano, now a favourite suburban resort upon the Sea of Marmora.
A south wind carried them next to Scutari. From that point they crossed
to the bay now occupied by the Palace of Dolma Bagtché, near Beshiktash.
There the army landed, and advancing along the shore attacked the tower
to which the northern end of the chain across the harbour’s mouth was
fastened. Upon the capture of the tower after a feeble resistance, the
chain was cut, and the fleet of Venice under the command of Dandolo,
flying the ensign of S. Mark, rode into the Golden Horn and made for the
head of the harbour. At the same time, the troops marched towards the
same point, along the northern shore, where Cassim Pasha and Haskeui are
now situated. At the latter suburb they crossed the stone bridge that
led to Eyoub on the southern bank. Then turning eastwards, they seized
the hill facing the portion of the city walls above which the windows
and domes of the Palace of Blachernæ looked towards the west. While
the army prepared to attack that point, the ships of Dandolo stood
before the harbour walls, in a long line from Aivan Serai to the Phanar
and the neighbourhood of the present Inner Bridge. A desperate assault
followed, in which twenty-five towers were carried by the Venetians, and
the day would have been won, but for the repulse of the land forces and
the necessity to hasten to their relief. Soon a revolution within the
city against the usurper whom the Crusaders had come to depose, and in
favour of the restoration of Isaac Angelus, whose claim to the throne
they supported, seemed to bring the struggle to an end. As a sign that
amicable relations had been established, and to avoid the danger of
angry collisions with the citizens, the invaders removed their forces to
the northern side of the Golden Horn. But the conditions on which help
had been rendered to Isaac Angelus were too hard to be fulfilled; and
insistence upon them provoked the national feeling against the foreign
intruders. The imperial protegés of the Crusaders were murdered, or died
from fear, and the smouldering embers of the strife burst once more into
flames. The army of the Crusade was therefore taken on board the fleet,
and proceeded to make a joint attack upon the portion of the harbour
walls which Dandolo had once before captured. Victory wavered from side
to side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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