CONSTANTINE PAVLOVICH (1779-1831), grand-duke and cesarevich of Russia,
was born at Tsarskoye Selo on the 27th of April 1779. Of the sons born
to the unfortunate tsar Paul Petrovich and his wife Maria Feodorovna,
_nee_ princess of Wuerttemberg, none more closely resembled his father in
bodily and mental characteristics than did the second, Constantine
Pavlovich. The direction of the boy's upbringing was entirely in the
hands of his grandmother, the empress Catherine II. As in the case of
her eldest grandson (afterwards the emperor Alexander I.), she regulated
every detail of his physical and mental education; but in accordance
with her usual custom she left the carrying out of her views to the men
who were in her confidence. Count Nicolai Ivanovich Soltikov was
supposed to be the actual tutor, but he too in his turn transferred the
burden to another, only interfering personally on quite exceptional
occasions, and exercised neither a positive nor a negative influence
upon the character of the exceedingly passionate, restless and
headstrong boy. The only person who really took him in hand was Cesar La
Harpe, who was tutor-in-chief from 1783 to May 1795 and educated both
the empress's grandsons.
Like Alexander, Constantine was married by Catherine when not yet
seventeen years of age, a raw and immature boy, and he made his wife,
Juliana of Coburg, intensely miserable. After a first separation in the
year 1799, she went back permanently to her German home in 1801, the
victim of a frivolous intrigue, in the guilt of which she was herself
involved. An attempt made by Constantine in 1814 to win her back to his
hearth and home broke down on her firm opposition. During the time of
this tragic marriage Constantine's first campaign took place under the
leadership of the great Suvorov. The battle of Bassignano was lost by
Constantine's fault, but at Novi he distinguished himself by such
personal bravery that the emperor Paul bestowed on him the title of
cesarevich, which according to the fundamental law of the constitution
belonged only to the heir to the throne. Though it cannot be proved that
this action of the tsar denoted any far-reaching plan, it yet shows that
Paul already distrusted the grand-duke Alexander. However that may be,
it is certain that Constantine never tried to secure the throne. After
his father's death he led a wild and disorderly bachelor life. He
abstained from politics, but remained faithful to his military
inclinations, though, indeed, without manifesting anything more than a
preference for the externalities of the service.
In command of the guards during the campaign of 1805 Constantine had a
share of the responsibility for the unfortunate turn which events took
at the battle of Austerlitz; while in 1807 neither his skill nor his
fortune in war showed any improvement. However, after the peace of
Tilsit he became an ardent admirer of the great Corsican and an upholder
of the Russo-French alliance. It was on this account that in political
questions he did not enjoy the confidence of his imperial brother. To
the latter the French alliance had always been merely a means to an end,
and after he had satisfied himself at Erfurt, and later during the
Franco-Austrian War of 1809, that Napoleon likewise regarded his
relation to Russia only from the point of view of political advantage,
he became convinced that the alliance must transform itself into a
battle of life and death. Such insight was never attained by
Constantine; even in 1812, after the fall of Moscow, he pressed for a
speedy conclusion of peace with Napoleon, and, like field-marshal
Kutusov, he too opposed the policy which carried the war across the
Russian frontier to a victorious conclusion upon French soil. During the
campaign he was a boon companion of every commanding-officer. Barclay de
Tolly was twice obliged to send him away from the army. His share in the
battles in Germany and France was insignificant. At Dresden, on the 26th
of August, his military knowledge failed him at the decisive moment, but
at La Fere-Champenoise he distinguished himself by personal bravery. On
the whole he cut no great figure. In Paris the grand-duke excited public
ridicule by the manifestation of his petty military fads. His first
visit was to the stables, and it was said that he had marching and
drilling even in his private rooms.
In the great political decisions of those days Constantine took not the
smallest part. His importance in political history dates only from the
moment when the emperor Alexander entrusted him in Poland with a task
which enabled him to concentrate all the one-sidedness of his talents
and all the doggedness of his nature on a definite object: that of the
militarization and outward discipline of Poland. With this begins the
part played by the grand-duke in history. In the Congress-Poland created
by Alexander he received the post of commander-in-chief of the forces of
the kingdom; to which was added later (1819) the command of the
Lithuanian troops and of those of the Russian provinces that had
formerly belonged to the kingdom of Poland. In effect he was the actual
ruler of the country, and soon became the most zealous advocate of the
separate position of Poland created by the constitution granted by
Alexander. He organized their army for the Poles, and felt himself more
a Pole than a Russian, especially after his marriage, on the 27th of
May 1820, with a Polish lady, Johanna Grudzinska. Connected with this
was his renunciation of any claim to the Russian succession, which was
formally completed in 1822. It is well known how, in spite of this, when
Alexander I. died on the 1st of December 1825 the grand-duke Nicholas
had him proclaimed emperor in St Petersburg, in connexion with which
occurred the famous revolt of the Russian Liberals, known as the rising
of the Dekabrists. In this crisis Constantine's attitude had been very
correct, far more so than that of his brother, which was vacillating and
uncertain. Under the emperor Nicholas also Constantine maintained his
position in Poland. But differences soon arose between him and his
brother in consequence of the share taken by the Poles in the Dekabrist
conspiracy. Constantine hindered the unveiling of the organized plotting
for independence which had been going on in Poland for many years, and
held obstinately to the belief that the army and the bureaucracy were
loyally devoted to the Russian empire. The eastern policy of the tsar
and the Turkish War of 1828 and 1829 caused a fresh breach between them.
It was owing to the opposition of Constantine that the Polish army took
no part in this war, so that there was in consequence no Russo-Polish
comradeship in arms, such as might perhaps have led to a reconciliation
between the two nations.
The insurrection at Warsaw in November 1830 took Constantine completely
by surprise. It was owing to his utter failure to grasp the situation
that the Polish regiments passed over to the revolutionaries; and during
the continuance of the revolution he showed himself as incompetent as he
was lacking in judgment. Every defeat of the Russians appeared to him
almost in the light of a personal gratification: _his_ soldiers were
victorious. The suppression of the revolution he did not live to see. He
died of cholera at Vitebsk on the 27th of June 1831. He was an
impossible man in an impossible situation. On the Russian imperial
throne he would in all probability have been a tyrant like his father.
See also Karrnovich's _The Cesarevich Constantine Pavlovich_ (2
vols., St Petersburg, 1899), (Russian); T. Schiemann's _Geschichte
Russlands unter Kaiser Nicolaus I._ vol. i. (Berlin, 1904);
Pusyrevski's _The Russo-Polish War of 1831_ (2nd ed., St Petersburg,
1890) (Russian). (T. SE.)
CONSTANTINE, a city of Algeria, capital of the department of the same
name, 54 m. by railway S. by W. of the port of Philippeville, in 36 deg. 22'
N., 6 deg. 36' E. Constantine is the residence of a general commanding a
division, of a prefect and other high officials, is the seat of a
bishop, and had a population in 1906 of 46,806, of whom 25,312 were
Europeans. The population of the commune, which includes the suburbs of
Constantine, was 58,435. The city occupies a romantic position on a
rocky plateau, cut off on all sides save the west from the surrounding
country by a beautiful ravine, through which the river Rummel flows. The
plateau is 2130 ft. above sea-level, and from 500 to nearly 1000 ft.
above the river bed. The ravine, formed by the Rummel, through erosion
of the limestone, varies greatly in width--at its narrowest part the
cliffs are only 15 ft. apart, at its broadest the valley is 400 yds.
wide. At the N.E. angle of the city the gorge is spanned by an iron
bridge (El-Kantara) built in 1863, giving access to the railway station,
situated on Mansura hill. A stone bridge built by the Romans, and
restored at various times, suddenly gave way in 1857 and is now in
ruins; it was built on a natural arch, which, 184 ft. above the level of
the river, spans the valley. Along the north-eastern side of the city
the Rummel is spanned in all four times by these natural stone arches or
tunnels. To the north the city is commanded by the Jebel Mecid, a hill
which the French (following the example of the Romans) have fortified.
Constantine is walled, the extant medieval wall having been largely
constructed out of Roman material. Through the centre from north to
south runs a street (the rue de France) roughly dividing Constantine
into two parts. The place du Palais, in which are the palace of the
governor and the cathedral, and the kasbah (citadel) are west of the rue
de France, as is likewise the place Negrier, containing the law courts.
The native town lies chiefly in the south-east part of the city. A
striking contrast exists between the Moorish quarter, with its tortuous
lanes and Oriental architecture, and the modern quarter, with its
rectangular streets and wide open squares, frequently bordered with
trees and adorned with fountains. Of the squares the place de Nemours is
the centre of the commercial and social life of the city. Of the public
buildings those dating from before the French occupation possess chief
interest. The palace, built by Ahmed Pasha, the last bey of Constantine,
between 1830 and 1836, is one of the finest specimens of Moorish
architecture of the 19th century. The kasbah, which occupies the
northern corner of the city, dates from Roman times, and preserves in
its more modern portions numerous remains of other Roman edifices. It is
now turned into barracks and a hospital. The fine mosque of
Sidi-el-Kattani (or Salah Bey) dates from the close of the 18th century;
that of Suk-er-Rezel, now transformed into a cathedral, and called
_Notre-Dame des Sept Douleurs_, was built about a century earlier. The
Great Mosque, or Jamaa-el-Kebir, occupies the site of what was probably
an ancient pantheon. The mosque Sidi-el-Akhdar has a beautiful minaret
nearly 80 ft. high. The museum, housed in the hotel de ville, contains a
fine collection of antiquities, including a famous bronze statuette of
the winged figure of Victory, 23 in. high, discovered in the kasbah in
1858.
A religious seminary, or medressa, is maintained in connexion with the
Sidi-el-Kattani; and the French support a college and various minor
educational establishments for both Arabic and European culture. The
native industry of Constantine is chiefly confined to leather goods and
woollen fabrics. Some 100,000 burnouses are made annually, the finest
partly of wool and partly of silk. There is also an active trade in
embossing or engraving copper and brass utensils. A considerable trade
is carried on over a large area by means of railway connexion with
Algiers, Bona, Tunis and Biskra, as well as with Philippeville. The
railways, however, have taken away from the city its monopoly of the
traffic in wheat, though its share in that trade still amounts to from
L400,000 to L480,000 a year.
Constantine, or, as it was originally called, Cirta or Kirtha, from the
Phoenician word for a city, was in ancient times one of the most
important towns of Numidia, and the residence of the kings of the
Massyli. Under Micipsa (2nd century B.C.) it reached the height of its
prosperity, and was able to furnish an army of 10,000 cavalry and 20,000
infantry. Though it afterwards declined, it still continued an important
military post, and is frequently mentioned during successive wars.
Caesar having bestowed a part of its territory on his supporter Sittius,
the latter introduced a Roman settlement, and the town for a time was
known as Colonia Sittianorum. In the war of Maxentius against Alexander,
the Numidian usurper, it was laid in ruins; and on its restoration in
A.D. 313 by Constantine it received the name which it still retains. It
was not captured during the Vandal invasion of Africa, but on the
conquest by the Arabians (7th century) it shared the same fate as the
surrounding country. Successive Arab dynasties looted it, and many
monuments of antiquity suffered (to be finally swept away by "municipal
improvements" under the French regime). During the 12th century it was
still a place of considerable prosperity; and its commerce was extensive
enough to attract the merchants of Pisa, Genoa and Venice. Frequently
taken and retaken by the Turks, Constantine finally became under their
dominion the seat of a bey, subordinate to the dey of Algiers. To Salah
Bey, who ruled from 1770 to 1792, we owe most of the existing Moslem
buildings. In 1826 Constantine asserted its independence of the dey of
Algiers, and was governed by Haji Ahmed, the choice of the Kabyles. In
1836 the French under Marshal Clausel made an unsuccessful attempt to
storm the city, which they attacked by night by way of El-Kantara. The
French suffered heavy loss. In 1837 Marshal Valee approached the town by
the connecting western isthmus, and succeeded in taking it by assault,
though again the French lost heavily. Ahmed, however, escaped and
maintained his independence in the Aures mountains. He submitted to the
French in 1848 and died in 1850.
CONSTANTINOPLE, the capital of the Turkish empire, situated in 41 deg. 0'
16'' N. and 28 deg. 58' 14" E. The city stands at the southern extremity of
the Bosporus, upon a hilly promontory that runs out from the European or
western side of the straits towards the opposite Asiatic bank, as though
to stem the rush of waters from the Black Sea into the Sea of Marmora.
Thus the promontory has the latter sea on the south, and the bay of the
Bosporus, forming the magnificent harbour known as the Golden Horn, some
4 m. long, on the north. Two streams, the Cydaris and Barbysus of
ancient days, the Ali-Bey-Su and Kiahat-Hane-Su of modern times, enter
the bay at its north-western end. A small winter stream, named the
Lycus, that flows through the promontory from west to south-east into
the Sea of Marmora, breaks the hilly ground into two great masses,--a
long ridge, divided by cross-valleys into six eminences, overhanging the
Golden Horn, and a large isolated hill constituting the south-western
portion of the territory. Hence the claim of Constantinople to be
enthroned, like Rome, upon seven hills. The 1st hill is distinguished by
the Seraglio, St Sophia and the Hippodrome; the 2nd by the column of
Constantine and the mosque Nuri-Osmanieh; the 3rd by the war office, the
Seraskereate Tower and the mosque of Sultan Suleiman; the 4th by the
mosque of Sultan Mahommed II., the Conqueror; the 5th by the mosque of
Sultan Selim; the 6th by Tekfour Serai and the quarter of Egri Kapu; the
7th by Avret Tash and the quarter of Psamatia. In Byzantine times the
two last hills were named respectively the hill of Blachernae and the
Xerolophos or dry hill.
_History, Architecture and Antiquities._--Constantinople is famous in
history, first as the capital of the Roman empire in the East for more
than eleven centuries (330-1453), and secondly as the capital of the
Ottoman empire since 1453. In respect of influence over the course of
human affairs, its only rivals are Athens, Rome and Jerusalem. Yet even
the gifts of these rivals to the cause of civilization often bear the
image and superscription of Constantinople upon them. Roman law, Greek
literature, the theology of the Christian church, for example, are
intimately associated with the history of the city beside the Bosporus.
The city was founded by Constantine the Great, through the enlargement
of the old town of Byzantium, in A.D. 328, and was inaugurated as a new
seat of government on the 11th of May, A.D. 330. To indicate its
political dignity, it was named New Rome, while to perpetuate the fame
of its founder it was styled Constantinople. The chief patriarch of the
Greek church still signs himself "archbishop of Constantinople, New
Rome." The old name of the place, Byzantium, however, continued in use.
The creation of a new capital by Constantine was not an act of personal
caprice or individual judgment. It was the result of causes long in
operation, and had been foreshadowed, forty years before, in the policy
of Diocletian. After the senate and people of Rome had ceased to be the
sovereigns of the Roman world, and their authority had been vested in
the sole person of the emperor, the eternal city could no longer claim
to be the rightful throne of the state. That honour could henceforth be
conferred upon any place in the Roman world which might suit the
convenience of the emperor, or serve more efficiently the interests he
had to guard. Furthermore, the empire was now upon its defence. Dreams
of conquests and extension had long been abandoned, and the pressing
question of the time was how to repel the persistent assaults of Persia
and the barbarians upon the frontiers of the realm, and so retain the
dominion inherited from the valour of the past. The size of the empire
made it difficult, if not impossible, to attend to these assaults, or to
control the ambition of successful generals, from one centre. Then the
East had grown in political importance, both as the scene of the most
active life in the state and as the portion of the empire most exposed
to attack. Hence the famous scheme of Diocletian to divide the burden of
government between four colleagues, in order to secure a better
administration of civil and of military affairs. It was a scheme,
however, that lowered the prestige of Rome, for it involved four
distinct seats of government, among which, as the event proved, no place
was found for the ancient capital of the Roman world. It also declared
the high position of the East, by the selection of Nicomedia in Asia
Minor as the residence of Diocletian himself. When Constantine,
therefore, established a new seat of government at Byzantium, he adopted
a policy inaugurated before his day as essential to the preservation of
the Roman dominion. He can claim originality only in his choice of the
particular point at which that seat was placed, and in his recognition
of the fact that his alliance with the Christian church could be best
maintained in a new atmosphere.
But whatever view may be taken of the policy which divided the
government of the empire, there can be no dispute as to the wisdom
displayed in the selection of the site for a new imperial throne, "Of
all the events of Constantine's life," says Dean Stanley, "this choice
is the most convincing and enduring proof of his real genius." Situated
where Europe and Asia are parted by a channel never more than 5 m.
across, and sometimes less than half a mile wide, placed at a point
commanding the great waterway between the Mediterranean and the Black
Sea, the position affords immense scope for commercial enterprise and
political action in rich and varied regions of the world. The least a
city in that situation can claim as its appropriate sphere of influence
is the vast domain extending from the Adriatic to the Persian Gulf, and
from the Danube to the eastern Mediterranean. Moreover, the site
constituted a natural citadel, difficult to approach or to invest, and
an almost impregnable refuge in the hour of defeat, within which broken
forces might rally to retrieve disaster. To surround it, an enemy
required to be strong upon both land and sea. Foes advancing through
Asia Minor would have their march arrested, and their blows kept beyond
striking distance, by the moat which the waters of the Bosporus, the Sea
of Marmora and the Dardanelles combine to form. The narrow straits in
which the waterway connecting the Mediterranean with the Black Sea
contracts, both to the north and to the south of the city, could be
rendered impassable to hostile fleets approaching from either direction,
while on the landward side the line of defence was so short that it
could be strongly fortified, and held against large numbers by a
comparatively small force. Nature, indeed, cannot relieve men of their
duty to be wise and brave, but, in the marvellous configuration of land
and sea about Constantinople, nature has done her utmost to enable human
skill and courage to establish there the splendid and stable throne of a
great empire.
Byzantium, out of which Constantinople sprang, was a small,
well-fortified town, occupying most of the territory comprised in the
two hills nearest the head of the promontory, and in the level ground at
their base. The landward wall started from a point near the present
Stamboul custom-house, and reached the ridge of the 2nd hill, a little
to the east of the point marked by Chemberli Tash (the column of
Constantine). There the principal gate of the town opened upon the
Egnatian road. From that gate the wall descended towards the Sea of
Marmora, touching the water in the neighbourhood of the Seraglio
lighthouse. The Acropolis, enclosing venerated temples, crowned the
summit of the first hill, where the Seraglio stands. Immediately to the
south of the fortress was the principal market-place of the town,
surrounded by porticoes on its four sides, and hence named the
Tetrastoon. On the southern side of the square stood the baths of
Zeuxippus, and beyond them, still farther south, lay the Hippodrome,
which Septimius Severus had undertaken to build but failed to complete.
Two theatres, on the eastern slope of the Acropolis, faced the bright
waters of the Marmora, and a stadium was found on the level tract on the
other side of the hill, close to the Golden Horn. The Strategion,
devoted to the military exercises of the brave little town, stood close
to Sirkedji Iskelessi, and two artificial harbours, the Portus
Prosforianus and the Neorion, indented the shore of the Golden Horn,
respectively in front of the ground now occupied by the station of the
Chemins de Fer Orientaux and the Stamboul custom-house. A graceful
granite column, still erect on the slope above the head of the
promontory, commemorated the victory of Claudius Gothicus over the Goths
at Nissa, A.D. 269. All this furniture of Byzantium was appropriated for
the use of the new capital.
[Illustration: CONSTANTINOPLE (Map)
Professor A. van Millingen, inv.
Emery Walker sc.]
According to Zosimus, the line of the landward walls erected by
Constantine to defend New Rome was drawn at a distance of nearly 2 m.
(15 stadia) to the west of the limits of the old town. It therefore ran
across the promontory from the vicinity of Un Kapan Kapusi (Porta
Platea), at the Stamboul head of the Inner Bridge, to the neighbourhood
of Daud Pasha Kapusi (Porta S. Aemiliani), on the Marmora, and thus
added the 3rd and 4th hills and portions of the 5th and 7th hills to the
territory of Byzantium. We have two indications of the course of these
walls on the 7th hill. One is found in the name Isa Kapusi (the Gate of
Jesus) attached to a mosque, formerly a Christian church, situated above
the quarter of Psamatia. It perpetuates the memory of the beautiful
gateway which formed the triumphal entrance into the city of
Constantine, and which survived the original bounds of the new capital
as late as 1508, when it was overthrown by an earthquake. The other
indication is the name Alti Mermer (the six columns) given to a quarter
in the same neighbourhood. The name is an ignorant translation of
Exakionion, the corrupt form of the designation Exokionion, which
belonged in Byzantine days to that quarter because marked by a column
outside the city limits. Hence the Arians, upon their expulsion from the
city by Theodosius I., were allowed to hold their religious services in
the Exokionion, seeing that it was an extra-mural district. This
explains the fact that Arians are sometimes styled Exokionitae by
ecclesiastical historians. The Constantinian line of fortifications,
therefore, ran a little to the east of the quarter of Alti Mermer. In
addition to the territory enclosed within the limits just described, the
suburb of Sycae or Galata, on the opposite side of the Golden Horn, and
the suburb of Blachernae, on the 6th hill, were regarded as parts of the
city, but stood within their own fortifications. It was to the ramparts
of Constantine that the city owed its deliverance when attacked by the
Goths, after the terrible defeat of Valens at Adrianople, A.D. 378.
In the opinion of his courtiers, the bounds assigned to New Rome by
Constantine seemed, it is said, too wide, but after some eighty years
they proved too narrow for the population that had gathered within the
city. The barbarians had meantime also grown more formidable, and this
made it necessary to have stronger fortifications for the capital.
Accordingly, in 413, in the reign of Theodosius II., Anthemius, then
praetorian prefect of the East and regent, enlarged and refortified the
city by the erection of the wall which forms the innermost line of
defence in the bulwarks whose picturesque ruins now stretch from the Sea
of Marmora, on the south of Yedi Kuleh (the seven towers), northwards to
the old Byzantine palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Tekfour Serai), above
the quarter of Egri Kapu. There the new works joined the walls of the
suburb of Blachernae, and thus protected the city on the west down to
the Golden Horn. Somewhat later, in 439, the walls along the Marmora and
the Golden Horn were brought, by the prefect Cyrus, up to the
extremities of the new landward walls, and thus invested the capital in
complete armour. Then also Constantinople attained its final size. For
any subsequent extension of the city limits was insignificant, and was
due to strategic considerations. In 447 the wall of Anthemius was
seriously injured by one of those earthquakes to which the city is
liable. The disaster was all the more grave, as the Huns under Attila
were carrying everything before them in the Balkan lands. The
desperateness of the situation, however, roused the government of
Theodosius II., who was still upon the throne, to put forth the most
energetic efforts to meet the emergency. If we may trust two
contemporary inscriptions, one Latin, the other Greek, still found on
the gate Yeni Mevlevi Khaneh Kapusi (Porta Rhegium), the capital was
again fully armed, and rendered more secure than ever, by the prefect
Constantine, in less than two months. Not only was the wall of Anthemius
restored, but, at the distance of 20 yds., another wall was built in
front of it, and at the same distance from this second wall a broad moat
was constructed with a breastwork along its inner edge. Each wall was
flanked by ninety-six towers. According to some authorities, the moat
was flooded during a siege by opening the aqueducts, which crossed the
moat at intervals and conveyed water into the city in time of peace.
This opinion is extremely doubtful. But in any case, here was a
barricade 190-207 ft. thick, and 100 ft. high, with its several parts
rising tier above tier to permit concerted action, and alive with large
bodies of troops ready to pour, from every coign of vantage, missiles of
death--arrows, stones, Greek fire--upon a foe. It is not strange that
these fortifications defied the assaults of barbarism upon the civilized
life of the world for more than a thousand years. As might be expected,
the walls demanded frequent restoration from time to time in the course
of their long history. Inscriptions upon them record repairs, for
example, under Justin II., Leo the Isaurian, Basil II., John
Palaeologus, and others. Still, the ramparts extending now from the
Marmora to Tekfour Serai are to all intents and purposes the ruins of
the Theodosian walls of the 5th century.
This is not the case in regard to the other parts of the fortifications
of the city. The walls along the Marmora and the Golden Horn represent
the great restoration of the seaward defences of the capital carried out
by the emperor Theophilus in the 9th century; while the walls between
Tekfour Serai and the Golden Horn were built long after the reign of
Theodosius II., superseding the defences of that quarter of the city in
his day, and relegating them, as traces of their course to the rear of
the later works indicate, to the secondary office of protecting the
palace of Blachernae. In 627 Heraclius built the wall along the west of
the quarter of Aivan Serai, in order to bring the level tract at the
foot of the 6th hill within the city bounds, and shield the church of
Blachernae, which had been exposed to great danger during the siege of
the city by the Avars in that year. In 813 Leo V. the Armenian built the
wall which stands in front of the wall of Heraclius to strengthen that
point in view of an expected attack by the Bulgarians.
The splendid wall, flanked by nine towers, that descends from the court
of Tekfour Serai to the level tract below Egri Kapu, was built by Manuel
Comnenus (1143-1180) for the greater security of the part of the city in
which stood the palace of Blachernae, then the favourite imperial
residence. Lastly, the portion of the fortifications between the wall of
Manuel and the wall of Heraclius presents too many problems to be
discussed here. Enough to say, that in it we find work belonging to the
times of the Comneni, Isaac Angelus and the Palaeologi.
If we leave out of account the attacks upon the city in the course of
the civil wars between rival parties in the empire, the fortifications
of Constantinople were assailed by the Avars in 627; by the Saracens in
673-677, and again in 718; by the Bulgarians in 813 and 913; by the
forces of the Fourth Crusade in 1203-1204; by the Turks in 1422 and
1453. The city was taken in 1204, and became the seat of a Latin empire
until 1261, when it was recovered by the Greeks. On the 29th of May 1453
Constantinople ceased to be the capital of the Roman empire in the East,
and became the capital of the Ottoman dominion.
The most noteworthy points in the circuit of the walls of the city are
the following. (1) The Golden gate, now included in the Turkish fortress
of Yedi Kuleh. It is a triumphal archway, consisting of three arches,
erected in honour of the victory of Theodosius I. over Maximus in 388,
and subsequently incorporated in the walls of Theodosius II., as the
state entrance of the capital. (2) The gate of Selivria, or of the Pege,
through which Alexius Strategopoulos made his way into the city in 1261,
and brought the Latin empire of Constantinople to an end. (3) The gate
of St Romanus (Top Kapusi), by which, in 1453, Sultan Mahommed entered
Constantinople after the fall of the city into Turkish hands. (4) The
great breach made in the ramparts crossing the valley of the Lycus, the
scene of the severest fighting in the siege of 1453, where the Turks
stormed the city, and the last Byzantine emperor met his heroic death.
(5) The palace of the Porphyrogenitus, long erroneously identified with
the palace of the Hebdomon, which really stood at Makrikeui. It is the
finest specimen of Byzantine civil architecture left in the city. (6)
The tower of Isaac Angelus and the tower of Anemas, with the chambers in
the body of the wall to the north of them. (7) The wall of Leo, against
which the troops of the Fourth Crusade came, in 1203, from their camp on
the hill opposite the wall, and delivered their chief attack. (8) The
walls protecting the quarter of Phanar, which the army and fleet of the
Fourth Crusade under the Venetian doge Henrico Dandolo carried in 1204.
(9) Yali Kiosk Kapusi, beside which the southern end of the chain drawn
across the mouth of the harbour during a siege was attached. (10) The
ruins of the palace of Hormisdas, near Chatladi Kapu, once the residence
of Justinian the Great and Theodora. It was known in later times as the
palace of the Bucoleon, and was the scene of the assassination of
Nicephorus Phocas. (11) The sites of the old harbours between Chatladi
Kapu and Daud Pasha Kapusi. (12) The fine marble tower near the junction
of the walls along the Marmora with the landward walls.
The interior arrangements of the city were largely determined by the
configuration of its site, which falls into three great divisions,--the
level ground and slopes looking towards the Sea of Marmora, the range of
hills forming the midland portion of the promontory, and the slopes and
level ground facing the Golden Horn. In each division a great street ran
through the city from east to west, generally lined with arcades on one
side, but with arcades on both sides when traversing the finer and
busier quarters. The street along the ridge formed the principal
thoroughfare, and was named the Mese ([Greek: Mese]), because it ran
through the middle of the city. On reaching the west of the 3rd hill, it
divided into two branches, one leading across the 7th hill to the Golden
gate, the other conducting to the church of the Holy Apostles, and the
gate of Charisius (Edirneh Kapusi). The Mese linked together the great
fora of the city,--the Augustaion on the south of St Sophia, the forum
of Constantine on the summit of the 2nd hill, the forum of Theodosius I.
or of Taurus on the summit of the 3rd hill, the forum of Amastrianon
where the mosque of Shah Zadeh is situated, the forum of the Bous at Ak
Serai, and the forum of Arcadius or Theodosius II. on the summit of the
7th hill. This was the route followed on the occasion of triumphal
processions.
Of the edifices and monuments which adorned the fora, only a slight
sketch can be given here. On the north side of the Augustaion rose the
church of St Sophia, the most glorious cathedral of Eastern Christendom;
opposite, on the southern side of the square, was the Chalce, the great
gate of the imperial palace; on the east was the senate house, with a
porch of six noble columns; to the west, across the Mese, were the law
courts. In the area of the square stood the Milion, whence distances
from Constantinople were measured, and a lofty column which bore the
equestrian statue of Justinian the Great. There also was the statue of
the empress Eudoxia, famous in the history of Chrysostom, the pedestal
of which is preserved near the church of St Irene. The Augustaion was
the heart of the city's ecclesiastical and political life. The forum of
Constantine was a great business centre. Its most remarkable monument
was the column of Constantine, built of twelve drums of porphyry and
bearing aloft his statue. Shorn of much of its beauty, the column still
stands to proclaim the enduring influence of the foundation of the city.
In the forum of Theodosius I. rose a column in his honour, constructed
on the model of the hollow columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius at
Rome. There also was the Anemodoulion, a beautiful pyramidal structure,
surmounted by a vane to indicate the direction of the wind. Close to the
forum, if not in it, was the capitol, in which the university of
Constantinople was established. The most conspicuous object in the forum
of the Bous was the figure of an ox, in bronze, beside which the bodies
of criminals were sometimes burnt. Another hollow column, the pedestal
of which is now known as Avret Tash, adorned the forum of Arcadius. A
column in honour of the emperor Marcian still stands in the valley of
the Lycus, below the mosque of Sultan Mahommed the Conqueror. Many
beautiful statues, belonging to good periods of Greek and Roman art,
decorated the fora, streets and public buildings of the city, but
conflagrations and the vandalism of the Latin and Ottoman conquerors of
Constantinople have robbed the world of those treasures.
The imperial palace, founded by Constantine and extended by his
successors, occupied the territory which lies to the east of St Sophia
and the Hippodrome down to the water's edge. It consisted of a large
number of detached buildings, in grounds made beautiful with gardens and
trees, and commanding magnificent views over the Sea of Marmora, across
to the hills and mountains of the Asiatic coast. The buildings were
mainly grouped in three divisions--the Chalce, the Daphne and the
"sacred palace." Labarte and Paspates have attempted to reconstruct the
palace, taking as their guide the descriptions given of it by Byzantine
writers. The work of Labarte is specially valuable, but without proper
excavations of the site all attempts to restore the plan of the palace
with much accuracy lack a solid foundation. With the accession of
Alexius Comnenus, the palace of Blachernae, at the north-western corner
of the city, became the principal residence of the Byzantine court, and
was in consequence extended and embellished. It stood in a more retired
position, and was conveniently situated for excursions into the country
and hunting expeditions. Of the palaces outside the walls, the most
frequented were the palace at the Hebdomon, now Makrikeui, in the early
days of the Empire, and the palace of the Pege, now Balukli, a short
distance beyond the gate of Selivria, in later times. For municipal
purposes, the city was divided, like Rome, into fourteen Regions.
As the seat of the chief prelate of Eastern Christendom, Constantinople
was characterized by a strong theological and ecclesiastical
temperament. It was full of churches and monasteries, enriched with the
reputed relics of saints, prophets and martyrs, which consecrated it a
holy city and attracted pilgrims from every quarter to its shrines. It
was the meeting-place of numerous ecclesiastical councils, some of them
ecumenical (see below, Constantinople, Councils of). It was likewise
distinguished for its numerous charitable institutions. Only some twenty
of the old churches of the city are left. Most of them have been
converted into mosques, but they are valuable monuments of the art which
flourished in New Rome. Among the most interesting are the following. St
John of the Studium (Emir-Achor Jamissi) is a basilica of the middle of
the 5th century, and the oldest ecclesiastical fabric in the city; it is
now, unfortunately, almost a complete ruin. SS. Sergius and Bacchus
(Kutchuk Aya Sofia) and St Sophia are erections of Justinian the Great.
The former is an example of a dome placed on an octagonal structure, and
in its general plan is similar to the contemporary church of S. Vitale
at Ravenna. St Sophia (i.e. [Greek: Hagia Sophia], Holy Wisdom) is the
glory of Byzantine art, and one of the most beautiful buildings in the
world. St Mary Diaconissa (Kalender Jamissi) is a fine specimen of the
work of the closing years of the 6th century. St Irene, founded by
Constantine, and repaired by Justinian, is in its present form mainly a
restoration by Leo the Isaurian, in the middle of the 8th century. St
Mary Panachrantos (Fenari Isa Mesjidi) belongs to the reign of Leo the
Wise (886-912). The Myrelaion (Bodrum Jami) dates from the 10th century.
The Pantepoptes (Eski Imaret Jamissi), the Pantocrator (Zeirek Kilisse
Jamissi), and the body of the church of the Chora (Kahriyeh Jamissi)
represent the age of the Comneni. The Pammacaristos (Fetiyeh Jamissi),
St Andrew in Krisei (Khoja Mustapha Jamissi), the narthexes and side
chapel of the Chora were, at least in their present form, erected in the
times of the Palaeologi. It is difficult to assign precise dates to SS.
Peter and Mark (Khoda Mustapha Jamissi at Aivan Scrai), St Theodosia
(Gul Jamissi), St Theodore Tyrone (Kilisse Jamissi). The beautiful
facade of the last is later than the other portions of the church, which
have been assigned to the 9th or 10th century.
For the thorough study of the church of St Sophia, the reader must
consult the works of Fossati, Salzenburg, Lethaby and Swainson, and
Antoniadi. The present edifice was built by Justinian the Great, under
the direction of Anthemius of Tralles and his nephew Isidorus of
Miletus. It was founded in 532 and dedicated on Christmas Day 538. It
replaced two earlier churches of that name, the first of which was built
by Constantius and burnt down in 404, on the occasion of the exile of
Chrysostom, while the second was erected by Theodosius II. in 415, and
destroyed by fire in the Nika riot of 532. Naturally the church has
undergone repair from time to time. The original dome fell in 558, as
the result of an earthquake, and among the improvements introduced in
the course of restoration, the dome was raised 25 ft. higher than
before. Repairs are recorded under Basil I., Basil II., Andronicus III.
and Cantacuzene. Since the Turkish conquest a minaret has been erected
at each of the four exterior angles of the building, and the interior
has been adapted to the requirements of Moslem worship, mainly by the
destruction or concealment of most of the mosaics which adorned the
walls. In 1847-1848, during the reign of Abd-ul-Mejid, the building was
put into a state of thorough repair by the Italian architect Fossati.
Happily the sultan allowed the mosaic figures, then exposed to view, to
be covered with matting before being plastered over. They may reappear
in the changes which the future will bring.
The exterior appearance of the church is certainly disappointing, but
within it is, beyond all question, one of the most beautiful creations
of human art. On a large scale, and in magnificent style, it combines
the attractive features of a basilica, with all the glory of an edifice
crowned by a dome. We have here a stately hall, 235 ft. N. and S., by
250 ft. E. and W., divided by two piers and eight columns on either hand
into nave and aisles, with an apse at the eastern end and galleries on
the three other sides. Over the central portion of the nave, a square
area at the angles of which stand the four piers, and at a height of 179
ft. above the floor, spreads a dome, 107 ft. in diameter, and 46 ft.
deep, its base pierced by forty arched windows. From the cornice of the
dome stretches eastwards and westwards a semi-dome, which in its turn
rests upon three small semi-domes. The nave is thus covered completely
by a domical canopy, which, in its ascent, swells larger and larger,
mounts higher and higher, as though a miniature heaven rose overhead.
For lightness, for grace, for proportion, the effect is unrivalled. The
walls of the building are reveted with marbles of various hues and
patterns, arranged to form beautiful designs, and traces of the mosaics
which joined the marbles in the rich and soft coloration of the whole
interior surface of the building appear at many points. There are forty
columns on the ground floor and sixty in the galleries, often crowned
with beautiful capitals, in which the monograms of the emperor Justinian
and the empress Theodora are inscribed. The eight porphyry columns,
placed in pairs in the four bays at the corners of the nave, belonged
originally to the temple of the sun at Baalbek. They were subsequently
carried to Rome by Aurelian, and at length presented to Justinian by a
lady named Marcia, to be erected in this church "for the salvation of
her soul." The columns of verde antique on either side of the nave are
commonly said to have come from the temple of Diana at Ephesus, but
recent authorities regard them as specially cut for use in the church.
The inner narthex of the church formed a magnificent vestibule 205 ft.
long by 26 ft. wide, reveted with marble slabs and glowing with mosaics.
The citizens of Constantinople found their principal recreation in the
chariot-races held in the Hippodrome, now the At Meidan, to the west of
the mosque of Sultan Ahmed. So much did the race-course (begun by
Severus but completed by Constantine) enter into the life of the people
that it has been styled "the axis of the Byzantine world." It was not
only the scene of amusement, but on account of its ample accommodation
it was also the arena of much of the political life of the city. The
factions, which usually contended there in sport, often gathered there
in party strife. There emperors were acclaimed or insulted; there
military triumphs were celebrated; there criminals were executed, and
there martyrs were burned at the stake. Three monuments remain to mark
the line of the Spina, around which the chariots whirled; an Egyptian
obelisk of Thothmes III., on a pedestal covered with bas-reliefs
representing Theodosius I., the empress Galla, and his sons Arcadius and
Honorius, presiding at scenes in the Hippodrome; the triple serpent
column, which stood originally at Delphi, to commemorate the victory of
Plataea 479 B.C.; a lofty pile of masonry, built in the form of an
obelisk, and once covered with plates of gilded bronze. Under the
Turkish buildings along the western side of the arena, some arches
against which seats for the spectators were built are still visible.
The city was supplied with water mainly from two sources; from the
streams immediately to the west, and from the springs and rain impounded
in reservoirs in the forest of Belgrade, to the north-west, very much on
the system followed by the Turks. The water was conveyed by aqueducts,
concealed below the surface, except when crossing a valley. Within the
city the water was stored in covered cisterns, or in large open
reservoirs. The aqueduct of Justinian, the Crooked aqueduct, in the open
country, and the aqueduct of Valens that spans the valley between the
4th and 3rd hills of the city, still carry on their beneficent work, and
afford evidence of the attention given to the water-supply of the
capital during the Byzantine period. The cistern of Arcadius, to the
rear of the mosque of Sultan Selim (having, it has been estimated, a
capacity of 6,571,720 cubic ft. of water), the cistern of Aspar, a short
distance to the east of the Gate of Adrianople, and the cistern of
Mokius, on the 7th hill, are specimens of the open reservoirs within the
city walls. The cistern of Bin Bir Derek (cistern of Illus) with its 224
columns, each built up with three shafts, and the cistern Yen Batan
Serai (Cisterna Basilica) with its 420 columns show what covered
cisterns were, on a grand scale. The latter is still in use.[1]
Byzantine Constantinople was a great commercial centre. To equip it more
fully for that purpose, several artificial harbours were constructed
along the southern shore of the city, where no natural haven existed to
accommodate ships coming up the Sea of Marmora. For the convenience of
the imperial court, there was a small harbour in the bend of the shore
to the east of Chatladi Kapu, known as the harbour of the Bucoleon. To
the west of that gate, on the site of Kadriga Limani (the Port of the
Galley), was the harbour of Julian, or, as it was named later, the
harbour of Sophia (the empress of Justin II.). Traces of the harbour
styled the Kontoscalion are found at Kum Kapu. To the east of Yeni Kapu
stood the harbour of Kaisarius or the Heptascalon, while to the west of
that gate was the harbour which bore the names of Eleutherius and of
Theodosiur I. A harbour named after the Golden Gate stood on the shore
to the south-west of the triumphal gate of the city.
_The Modern City._--As the capital of the Ottoman empire, the aspect of
the city changed in many ways. The works of art which adorned New Rome
gradually disappeared. The streets, never very wide, became narrower, and
the porticoes along their sides were almost everywhere removed. A
multitude of churches were destroyed, and most of those which survived
were converted into mosques. In race and garb and speech the population
grew largely oriental. One striking alteration in the appearance of the
city was the conversion of the territory extending from the head of the
promontory to within a short distance of St Sophia into a great park,
within which the buildings constituting the seraglio of the sultans, like
those forming the palace of the Byzantine emperors, were ranged around
three courts, distinguished by their respective gates--Bab-i-Humayum,
leading into the court of the Janissaries; Orta Kapu, the middle gate,
giving access to the court in which the sultan held state receptions; and
Bah-i-Saadet, the Gate of Felicity, leading to the more private
apartments of the palace. From the reign of Abd-ul-Mejid, the seraglio
has been practically abandoned, first for the palace of Dolmabagche on
the shore near Beshiktash, and now for Yildiz Kiosk, on the heights above
that suburb. It is, however, visited annually by the sultan, to do homage
to the relics of the prophet which are kept there. The older apartments
of the palace, such as the throne-room, the Bagdad Kiosk, and many of the
objects in the imperial treasury are of extreme interest to all lovers of
oriental art. To visit the seraglio, an imperial irade is necessary.
Another great change in the general aspect of the city has been produced
by the erection of stately mosques in the most commanding situations,
where dome and minarets and huge rectangular buildings present a
combination of mass and slenderness, of rounded lines and soaring
pinnacles, which gives to Constantinople an air of unique dignity and
grace, and at the same time invests it with the glamour of the oriental
world. The most remarkable mosques are the following:--The mosque of
Sultan Mahommed the Conqueror, built on the site of the church of the
Holy Apostles, in 1459, but rebuilt in 1768 owing to injuries due to an
earthquake; the mosques of Sultan Selim, of the Shah Zadeh, of Sultan
Suleiman and of Rustem Pasha--all works of the 16th century, the best
period of Turkish architecture; the mosque of Sultan Bayezid II.
(1497-1505); the mosque of Sultan Ahmed I. (1610); Yeni-Valide-Jamissi
(1615-1665); Nuri-Osmanieh (1748-1755); Laleli-Jamissi (1765). The
Turbehs containing the tombs of the sultans and members of their families
are often beautiful specimens of Turkish art.
In their architecture, the mosques present a striking instance of the
influence of the Byzantine style, especially as it appears in St Sophia.
The architects of the mosques have made a skilful use of the semi-dome
in the support of the main dome of the building, and in the consequent
extension of the arched canopy that spreads over the worshipper. In some
cases the main dome rests upon four semi-domes. At the same time, when
viewed from the exterior, the main dome rises large, bold and
commanding, with nothing of the squat appearance that mars the dome of
St Sophia, with nothing of the petty prettiness of the little domes
perched on the drums of the later Byzantine churches. The great mosques
express the spirit of the days when the Ottoman empire was still mighty
and ambitious. Occasionally, as in the case of Laleli Jamissi, where the
dome rests upon an octagon inscribed in a square, the influence of SS.
Sergius and Bacchus is perceptible.
For all intents and purposes, Constantinople is now the collection of
towns and villages situated on both sides of the Golden Horn and along
the shores of the Bosporus, including Scutari and Kadikeui. But the
principal parts of this great agglomeration are Stamboul (from Gr.
[Greek: eis ten polin], "into the city"), the name specially applied to
the portion of the city upon the promontory, Galata and Pera. Galata has
a long history, which becomes of general interest after 1265, when it
was assigned to the Genoese merchants in the city by Michael
Palaeologus, in return for the friendly services of Genoa in the
overthrow of the Latin empire of Constantinople. In the course of time,
notwithstanding stipulations to the contrary, the town was strongly
fortified and proved a troublesome neighbour During the siege of 1453
the inhabitants maintained on the whole a neutral attitude, but on the
fall of the capital they surrendered to the Turkish conqueror, who
granted them liberal terms. The walls have for the most part been
removed. The noble tower, however, which formed the citadel of the
colony, still remains, and is a striking feature in the scenery of
Constantinople. There are also churches and houses dating from Genoese
days. Galata is the chief business centre of the city, the seat of
banks, post-offices, steamship offices, &c. Pera is the principal
residential quarter of the European communities settled in
Constantinople, where the foreign embassies congregate, and the
fashionable shops and hotels are found.
Since the middle of the 19th century the city has yielded more and more
to western influences, and is fast losing its oriental character. The
sultan's palaces, and the residences of all classes of the community,
adopt with more or less success a European style of building. The
streets have been widened and named. They are in many instances better
paved, and are lighted at night. The houses are numbered. Cabs and
tramways have been introduced. Public gardens have been opened. For some
distance outside the Galata bridge, both shores of the Golden Horn have
been provided with a quay at which large steamers can moor to discharge
or embark their passengers and cargo. The Galata quay, completed in
1889, is 756 metres long and 20 metres wide; the Stamboul quay,
completed in 1900, is 378 metres in length. The harbour, quays and
facilities for handling merchandise, which have been established at the
head of the Anatolian railway, at Haidar Pasha, under German auspices,
would be a credit to any city. It is true that most of these
improvements are due to foreign enterprise and serve largely foreign
interests; still they have also benefited the city, and added much to
the convenience and comfort of local life. There has been likewise
progress in other than material respects. The growth of the imperial
museum of antiquities, under the direction of Hamdy Bey, within the
grounds of the Seraglio, has been remarkable; and while the collection
of the sarcophagi discovered at Sidon constitutes the chief treasure of
the museum, the institution has become a rich storehouse of many other
valuable relics of the past. The existence of a school of art, where
painting and architecture are taught, is also a sign of new times. A
school of handicrafts flourishes on the Sphendone of the Hippodrome. The
fine medical school between Scutari and Haidar Pasha, the Hamidieh
hospital for children, and the asylum for the poor, tell of the advance
of science and humanity in the place.
Considerable attention is now given to the subject of education
throughout the empire, a result due in great measure to the influence of
the American and French schools and colleges established in the
provinces and at the capital. More than thirty foreign educational
institutions flourish in Constantinople itself, and they are largely
attended by the youth belonging to the native communities of the
country. The Greek population is provided with excellent schools and
gymnasia, and the Armenians also maintain schools of a high grade. The
Turkish government itself became, moreover, impressed with the
importance of education, and as a consequence the whole system of public
instruction for the Moslem portion of the population was, during the
reign of Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid II., more widely extended and improved.
Beside the schools of the old type attached to the mosques, schools of a
better class were established under the direct control of the minister
of education, which, although open to improvement, certainly aimed at a
higher standard than that reached in former days. The progress of
education became noticeable even among Moslem girls. The social and
political influence of this intellectual improvement among the various
communities of the empire soon made itself felt, and had much to do with
the startling success of the constitutional revolution carried out,
under the direction of the Committee of Union and Progress, in the
autumn of 1908.
_Climate._--The climate of the city is healthy, but relaxing. It is damp
and liable to sudden and great changes of temperature. The winds from
the north and those from the south are at constant feud, and blow cold
or hot in the most capricious manner, often in the course of the same
day. "There are two climates at Constantinople, that of the north and
that of the south wind." The winters may be severe, but when mild they
are wet and not invigorating. In summer the heat is tempered by the
prevalence of a north-east wind that blows down the channel of the
Bosporus. Observations at Constantinople and at Scutari give the
following results, for a period of twenty years.
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------+
| | Constantinople. | Scutari. |
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------+
| Mean temperature | 57 deg. 7' | 58 deg. 1' |
| Maximum | 99 deg. 1' | 103 deg. 6' |
| Minimum | 17 deg. 2' | 13 deg. 0' |
| Rain | 28.3 in. | 29.29 in. |
| Number of rainy days | 112 | 128.6 |
+------------------------+-----------------+--------------+
The sanitation of the city has been improved, although much remains to
be done in that respect. No great epidemic has visited the city since
the outbreak of cholera in 1866. Typhoid and pulmonary diseases are
common.
_Population._--The number of the population of the city is an uncertain
figure, as no accurate statistics can be obtained. It is generally
estimated between 800,000 and 1,000,000. The inhabitants present a
remarkable conglomeration of different races, various nationalities,
divers languages, distinctive costumes and conflicting faiths, giving,
it is true, a singular interest to what may be termed the human scenery
of the city, but rendering impossible any close social cohesion, or the
development of a common civic life. Constantinople has well been
described as "a city not of one nation but of many, and hardly more of
one than of another." The following figures are given as an approximate
estimate of the size of the communities which compose the population.
Moslems 384,910
Greeks 152,741
Greek Latins 1,082
Armenians 149,590
Roman Catholics (native) 6,442
Protestants (native) 819
Bulgarians 4,377
Jews 44,361
Foreigners 129,243
--------
873,565
_Water-Supply._--Under the rule of the sultans, the water-supply of the
city has been greatly extended. The reservoirs in the forest of Belgrade
have been enlarged and increased in number, and new aqueducts have been
added to those erected by the Byzantine emperors. The use of the old
cisterns within the walls has been almost entirely abandoned, and the
water is led to basins in vaulted chambers (_Taxim_), from which it is
distributed by underground conduits to the fountains situated in the
different quarters of the city. From these fountains the water is taken
to a house by water-carriers, or, in the case of the humbler classes, by
members of the household itself.
For the supply of Pera, Galata and Beshiktash, Sultan Mahmud I.
constructed, in 1732, four bends in the forest of Belgrade, N.N.W. and
N.E. of the village of Bagchekeui, and the fine aqueduct which spans the
head of the valley of Buyukdere. Since 1885, a French company, La
Compagnie des Eaux, has rendered a great service by bringing water to
Stamboul, Pera, and the villages on the European side of the Bosporus,
from Lake Dercos, which lies close to the shore of the Black Sea some 29
m. distant from the city. The Dercos water is laid on in many houses.
Since 1893 a German company has supplied Scutari and Kadikeui with water
from the valley of the Sweet Waters of Asia.
_Trade._--The trade of the city has been unfavourably affected by the
political events which have converted former provinces of the Turkish
empire into autonomous states, by the development of business at other
ports of the empire, owing to the opening up of the interior country
through the construction of railroads, and by the difficulties which the
government, with the view of preventing political agitation, has put in
the way of easy intercourse by natives between the capital and the
provinces. Most of the commerce of the city is in hands of foreigners
and of Armenian and Greek merchants. Turks have little if anything to do
with trade on a large scale. "The capital," says a writer in the
_Konstantinopler Handelsblatt_ of November 1904, "produces very little
for export, and its hinterland is small, extending on the European side
only a few kilometres--the outlet for the fertile Eastern Rumelia is
Dedeagach--and on the Asiatic side embracing the Sea of Marmora and the
Anatolian railway district. Even part of this will be lost to
Constantinople when the Anatolian railway is connected with the port of
Mersina and with the Kassaba-Smyrna railway. Some 750 tons of the
sweetmeat known as 'Turkish delight' are annually exported to the United
Kingdom, America and Rumelia; embroideries, &c., are sold in fair
quantities to tourists. Otherwise the chief articles of Constantinople's
export trade consist of refuse and waste materials, sheep's wool (called
_Kassab bashi_) and skins from the slaughter-houses (in 1903 about
3,000,000 skins were exported, mostly to America), horns, hoofs, goat
and horse hair, guts, bones, rags, bran, old iron, &c., and finally
dogs' excrements, called in trade 'pure,' a Constantinople speciality,
which is used in preparing leather for ladies' gloves. From the
hinterland comes mostly raw produce such as grain, drugs, wool, silk,
ores and also carpets. The chief article is grain."
The average value of the goods passing through the port of
Constantinople at the opening of the 20th century was estimated at about
LT 11,000,000. From the imperfect statistics available, the following
tables of the class of goods imported and exported, and their respective
values, were drawn up in 1901 by the late Mr Whittaker, _The Times_
correspondent.
_Imports._
Manufactured goods (cotton,
woollen, silk, &c.) LT[2] 3,500,000
Haberdashery, ironmongery 90,000
Sugar 500,000
Petroleum 400,000
Flour 400,000
Coffee 300,000
Rice 250,000
Cattle 100,000
Various 850,000
---------
Total LT 7,000,000
_Exports._
Cereals LT 1,000,000
Mohair 800,000
Carpets 700,000
Silk and cocoons 500,000
Opium 400,000
Gum tragacanth 150,000
Wool 100,000
Hides 100,000
Various 250,000
---------
Total LT 4,100,000
About 40% of the import trade of Constantinople is British. According to
the trade report of the British consulate, the share of the United
Kingdom in the value of L7,142,000 on the total imports to
Constantinople during the year 1900-1901 was L1,811,000; while the share
of the United Kingdom in the value of L2,669,000 on the total exports
during the same year was L998,000. But it is worthy of note that while
British commerce still led the way in Turkey, the trade of some other
countries with Turkey, especially that of Germany, was increasing more
rapidly. Comparing the average of the period 1896-1900 with the total
for 1904, British trade showed an increase of 33%, Austro-Hungarian of
nearly 60%, Germany of 130%, Italian of 98%, French of 8%, and Belgian
of nearly 33%. The shipping visiting the port of Constantinople during
the year 1905, excluding sailing and small coasting vessels, was 9796,
representing a total of 14,785,080 tons. The percentage of steamers
under the British flag was 37.1; of tonnage, 45.9.
_Administration._--For the preservation of order and security, the city
is divided into four divisions (Belad-i-Selassi), viz. Stamboul,
Pera-Galata, Beshiktash and Scutari. The minister of police is at the
head of the administration of the affairs of these divisions, and is
_ex-officio_ governor of Stamboul. The governors of the other divisions
are subordinate to him, but are appointed by the sultan. Each governor
has a special staff of police and gendarmery and his own police-court.
In each division is a military commander, having a part of the garrison
of the city under his orders, but subordinate to the commander-in-chief
of the troops guarding the capital.
The municipal government of the four divisions of the city is in the
hands of a prefect, appointed by the sultan, and subordinate to the
minister of the interior. He is officially styled the prefect of
Stamboul, and is assisted by a council of twenty-four members, appointed
by the sultan or the minister of the interior. All matters concerning
the streets, the markets, the bazaars, the street-porters (_hamals_),
public weighers, baths and hospitals come under his jurisdiction. He is
charged also with the collection of the city dues, and the taxes on
property. The city is furthermore divided into ten municipal circles as
follows. In Stamboul: (1) Sultan Bayezid, (2) Sultan Mehemet, (3) Djerah
Pasha (Psamatia); on the European side of the Bosporus and the northern
side of the Golden Horn: (4) Beshiktash, (5) Yenikeui, (6) Pera, (7)
Buyukdere; on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus: (8) Anadol Hissar, (9)
Scutari, (10) Kadikeui. Each circle is subdivided into several wards
(_mahalleh_). "The outlying parts of the city are divided into six
districts (_Cazas_), namely, Princes' Islands, Guebzeh, Beicos, Kartal,
Kuchuk-Chekmedje and Shile, each having its governor (_kaimakam_), who
is usually chosen by the palace. These districts are dependencies of the
ministry of the interior, and their municipal affairs are directed by
agents of the prefecture."
In virtue of old treaties, known as the Capitulations (q.v.), foreigners
enjoy to a large extent the rights of exterritoriality. In disputes with
one another, they are judged before their own courts of justice. In
litigation between a foreigner and a native, the case is taken to a
native court, but a representative of the foreigner's consulate attends
the proceedings. Foreigners have a right to establish their own schools
and hospitals, to hold their special religious services, and even to
maintain their respective national post-offices. No Turkish policeman
may enter the premises of a foreigner without the sanction of the
consular authorities to whose jurisdiction the latter belongs. A certain
measure of self-government is likewise granted to the native Christian
communities under their ecclesiastical chiefs.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--On Constantinople generally, besides the regular
guide-books and works already mentioned, see P. Gyllius, _De
topographia Constantinopoleos, De Bosporo Thracio_ (1632); Du Cange,
_Constantinopolis Christiana_ (1680); J. von Hammer,
_Constantinopolis und der Bosporos_ (1822); Mordtmann, _Esquisse
topographique de Constantinople_ (1892); E. A. Grosvenor,
_Constantinople_ (1895); van Millingen, _Byzantine Constantinople_
(1899); Paspates, [Greek: Byzantinai Meletai] (1877); Scarlatos
Byzantios, [Greek: He Konstantinou polis] (1851); E. Pears, _Fall of
Constantinople_ (1885), _The Destruction of the Greek Empire_ (1903);
Gibbon, _The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_; Salzenberg,
_Altchristliche Baudenkmale von Konstantinopel_; Lethaby and
Swainson, _The Church of Sancta Sophia_; Pulgher, _Les Anciennes
Eglises byzantines de Constantinople_; Labarte, _Le Palais imperial
de Constantinople et ses abords_. (A. van M.)