Byzantine Constantinople, the walls of the city and adjoining historical sites
John Stuart Mill · en
As stated already, the adjacent quarter was called the quarter of
Eleutherius (τὰ τοῦ Ἐλευθερίου). It is mentioned under that name in
1203, as the farthest point reached by the great fire which then
devastated the city through the folly of the Crusaders.[1122] The
present name of the quarter, Vlanga, appears first in the eleventh
century, as the designation of the residence of Andronicus Comnenus in
this part of the city (οἶκος ὅς τοῦ Βλάγγα ἐπικέκληται),[1123] and it is
the name by which writers subsequent to the Restoration of the Greek
Empire refer to the district.[1124]
In the vicinity stood the Palace of the Empress Irene,[1125] the
unnatural mother of Constantine VI., in which Basil II. entertained the
Legates of Pope Hadrian II.[1126]
The Church of St. Panteleemon, erected by Theodora the wife of Justinian
the Great, on the site of her humble dwelling when a poor woman earning
her bread by spinning wool[1127] and the district of Narses (τὰ
Ναρσοῦ)[1128] were in this neighbourhood; so also was the district of
Canicleius (τὰ Κανικλείου), where the emperor landed when proceeding to
pay his annual visit to that church.[1129] The modern Greek church of
St. Theodore, to the south of Boudroum Djamissi (Myrelaion), marks, Dr.
Mordtmann[1130] suggests, the district of Claudius (τὰ Κλαυδίου).
The Harbour of the Golden Gate.
Another harbour on this side of the city was the Harbour of the Golden
Gate (ὁ λιμὴν τῆς Χρυσῆς),[1131] in the bay to the west of the entrance
of that name. This is implied in the statement of Ducas, that during the
siege of 1453 the right wing of the Turkish army extended southwards
from the Gate of St. Romanus to the Harbour of the Golden Gate.[1132]
On the occasion of a triumph celebrating a victorious campaign in Asia
Minor, the harbour presented an animated scene; for the spoils and
prisoners which were to figure in the procession, were ferried across
from Chrysopolis, and landed at this point, to be marshalled on the
plain before the Golden Gate.[1133]
It was off this point that the Turkish fleet, in 1453, waited to
intercept the five gallant ships, which brought provisions to the city
from the island of Scio, and which forced their way to the Golden Horn,
notwithstanding all the efforts of 305 vessels of the Sultan to capture
them.[1134]
The Harbour of Kaisarius and the Neorion at the Heptascalon.
Before concluding this account of the city harbours on the Sea of
Marmora, a point of some importance remains to be settled.
Byzantine historians speak of the Harbour of Kaisarius, and of the
Neorion at the Heptascalon, on the southern shore of the city. Now, as
traces of an additional harbour to those already mentioned, on this side
of the city, may be disputed, the question presents itself: Have the
Harbour of Kaisarius and the Neorion at the Heptascalon disappeared, or
were they one or other of the harbours already identified?