The bridge crossed the Barbyses[606] (Kiat-haneh Sou, one of the streams commonly styled “The Sweet Waters of Europe”), where that stream enters the Golden Horn,[607] in the district of the Cosmidion[608] (Eyoub). When Gyllius visited the city the stone piers of an ancient bridge could be seen, in summer, when the water was low, standing opposite a point between the northern extremity of the land walls and Aivan Serai: “Liquet pontem illum fuisse ubi pilæ cernuntur lapideæ antiqui pontis, sed non extra aquam eminentes nisi aliquando æstate, sitæe inter angulum urbis Blacherneum et suburbium, quod Turci appellant Aibasarium.”[609] In the siege of 627 the flotilla of log-boats, which the Slavonian allies of the Avars brought to take part in the operations, was moored behind this bridge, watching for an opportunity to descend into the Golden Horn, and harass the northern side of the city.[610] Over it Heraclius came to make his triumphal entrance into the city, after his return from the Persian War. It was a circuitous road for him to take from the Palace of the Hiereia (Fener Bagtchèssi, on the Bay of Moda, near Kadikeui), which he occupied upon his arrival within sight of the capital. His most direct course was to proceed from that palace to the Golden Gate by boat across the Sea of Marmora. But the hero of seven glorious campaigns was possessed by such an insuperable dread of the water that, for a long time, nothing, not even a conspiracy against his throne, could induce him to overcome his fear and cross to the city. At length the difficulty was met in the following manner. A bridge of boats was placed across the Bosporus, from the bay of Phedalia (Balta Liman)[611] to the opposite Asiatic shore, the parapets of the bridge being constructed of great branches and dense foliage, so as to hide from view the water on either hand; and over this roadway the emperor was persuaded to pass on horseback, as through a thicket on _terra firma_. Once on the European side of the straits, it would have been natural for him to take the road leading towards the city along the shore. But rather than keep near the water, Heraclius struck inland, for the valley at the head of the Golden Horn, to reach the side of the harbour on which the city stood, by the bridge over the narrow stream of the Barbyses.[612]