Unger (_Quellen der Byzantinischen Kunstgeschichte_, p. 264), without discussing the question at length, holds, as the result of his study of the texts, that the Kontoscalion cannot be identified with either the Harbour of Sophia or the Heptascalon. Scarlatus Byzantius (Ἡ Κωνσταντινούπολις, vol. i. pp. 268, 277) also maintains that the three names designated different harbours. Footnote 1175: Συγγραφαὶ Ἐλάσσονες, pp. 443, 444. He was not patriarch at the time. Footnote 1176: For the following information I am indebted to the Rev. H. O. Dwight, LL.D., who knew the quarter of Yeni Kapou in 1854, and was for many years a resident there. Footnote 1177: It is still standing. Footnote 1178: See above, p. 308. Footnote 1179: _Ut supra._ Footnote 1180: Pachymeres, vol. i. p. 365, Τὸ πρὸς τὸν Βλάγκα Κοντοσκέλιον. Footnote 1181: _Librum Insularum Archipelago_, p. 121. Footnote 1182: Vol. i. p. 365. Footnote 1183: See above, p. 295. CHAPTER XIX. THE HEBDOMON. The Hebdomon (τὸ Ἕβδομον, “Septimum”) was a suburb of Constantinople, situated on the Egnatian Road, at the distance of seven miles from the centre of the city. It obtained its name, as so many villages and towns on the great Roman highways did,[1183] from the number of the milestone beside which it stood (ἐν τῷ Ἑβδόμῳ Μιλίῳ), and holds a noteworthy place in history on account of its military associations and its connection with the Court of Constantinople. Considerable interest attaches to it also on account of the discussions which the question of its site has occasioned. There can be no doubt that the Hebdomon is represented by the modern village of Makrikeui, situated on the shore of the Sea of Marmora, three miles to the west of the Golden Gate. But the opinion which has been generally accepted, and has had the greatest names in its favour, is that the suburb stood at the northern extremity of the Theodosian Walls, where the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus and the quarter of Blachernæ were found. [Illustration: Map of the Territory Between the City and the Hebdomon.] Now, of all the mistakes committed by students of the topography of Byzantine Constantinople, none is so preposterous or inexcusable as this identification. It is a mistake made when to err seems impossible, for it is in direct opposition to the plainest and most convincing evidence that the famous suburb was situated elsewhere. A blind man, Valesius exclaims in his indignation at such a baseless opinion, might see the truth in the matter.