Along the low wall to the left are a number of water taps for the Moslems to perform their ablutions before going to prayer.] “What is your name?” the first witness was asked. “Mustapha.” “What was your father’s name?” “Genouze.” “And (to second witness) what may your name be?” “Pirez.” “And your father’s name?” “Rustem.” “How long is it since Sultan Mehemet took this city?” “Eighty-four years, to a day.” “How old were you then?” “Eighteen.” “How old are you now?” “One hundred and two years old.” “Mashallah, Mashallah” (God protect you), exclaimed the members of the Council, and stroked their long beards. “In what capacity did you serve under Sultan Mehemet?” “As janissaries.” “How was the city taken, by fighting or by surrender?” “By surrender.” Then followed a long garrulous narrative of the circumstances of the capitulation of the city, all of which went to prove the historical trustworthiness of everything the patriarch had stated on that subject. Finally, a report of these proceedings was drawn up and presented to the Sultan, who, after expressing his surprise, natural or feigned, ordered that the patriarch should have no further anxiety about the churches of his communion “so long as the world standeth.” Notwithstanding that order, however, the Greek community subsequently lost several churches in its possession at that time, including S. Mary Pammacaristos, then the patriarchal cathedral, with the result that it can now boast of only some six insignificant sanctuaries which were founded in the period of the Byzantine Empire. But excepting certain portions of S. Mary Mouchliotissa in the Phanar quarter, none of them can claim to be ancient fabrics. There are in Turkish hands about twenty-five Byzantine churches, and, though sadly altered, most of them retain enough of their original features to be interesting objects of study. CHAPTER VIII AMONG THE CHURCHES