THE BYZANTINE CAPITAL.
It is impossible to convey to the reader any adequate idea of the
beauties of the Bosphorus at the point where Constantine located the
capital of the Byzantine empire. The best way to approach it is by
the sea, and as the traveler usually enters from the west, he sails
through the Dardanelles, known in ancient times as the Hellespont,
passes through the sea of Marmora and enters the Bosphorus between
Constantinople, on the one side, and Skutari on the other. The
Bosphorus itself is between fifteen and twenty miles long and very
deep. It is the connecting link between the Black Sea and the Sea of
Marmora and the hills that jut into it on either side are nearly all
covered with towns and villas. The water is as clear as the water of
a lake, and fish may be seen at a great distance below the surface.
A ride through the Bosphorus reminds one of a trip up the Hudson,
although the former has the advantage in the depth of the stream, in
the transparency of the water, in the height of the banks and in the
irregularity of the course. In fact, the channel contains so many
curves that one seems to be passing through a succession of lakes.[7]
[7] The traveler is sure to notice some little birds which resemble
swallows flying up and down the stream. They do not light but
skim along the water all day long. Their restless and seemingly
aimless flight has caused them to be called "the lost souls of the
Bosphorus."
A little more than half way between the Sea of Marmora and the Black
Sea, on the north bank, is Therapia, the summer capital, to which
the officials repair when the warm weather begins, and upon the
same bank, about half way between Constantinople and Therapia, is
Roberts College, an institution for boys, established and maintained
by American philanthropy. It occupies a promontory which overlooks
the Bosphorus at its narrowest point, the point at which Mohammed
II crossed over from Asia, when in 1453 he succeeded in capturing
Constantinople.
The Golden Horn is the name given to an arm of the Bosphorus which,
leaving that strait a few miles from the Sea of Marmora, stretches
northward five or six miles to receive a stream called the Sweet
Waters of Europe. It may have been that the Golden Horn at one time
rivaled the Bosphorus in beauty, but it does so no longer. Full of
ships and boats of every description, from war vessels to canoes,
and polluted by the sewage of two cities, it disappoints as much as
the Bosphorus delights.
The city of Constantinople is divided by the Golden Horn, Stamboul,
the Turkish city lying on the west, and Galata and Pera, the foreign
quarters, lying on the east. Skutari stretches along the Asiatic
side of the Bosphorus, and the navies and merchant vessels of all
the world could ride in safety in the waters adjacent to these three
cities.
[Illustration: ST. SOFIA AT CONSTANTINOPLE.]
In the seventh century, B. C., a small colony of Greeks under the
lead of Byzas settled at Cape Bosphorus, now the site of Stamboul,
and in the rise and fall of the dynasties of the east, it has
played an important part. Being on the boundary line between Asia
and Europe and guarding the water communication between the Black
Sea and the Mediterranean, it possesses strategic advantages which
statesmen and warriors have been quick to recognize. The Persians
always wanted it and several times captured it. The Greeks were
continually taking it and losing it; Phillip of Macedon laid siege
to it and in so doing furnished Demosthenes with a theme for some of
his greatest speeches. There is a tradition that Phillip would have
succeeded, in spite of the aid given by the Athenians, but for the
barking of dogs, which apprised the inhabitants of a night assault.
As the dogs were set to barking, not by the enemy, but by the moon
which rose just in time to save the city, the Byzantines adopted
the crescent as their emblem and it has continued to be the emblem
of Turkey, having been retained by the Turks after their victory.
Alexander the Great became master of the Bosphorus, and later
Byzantium fell into the hands of the Romans. After a checkered
career of two centuries it was taken by Constantine, who decided
to make it the capital of the Roman world, and his own name has
been given to it, although he intended to call it New Rome. No one
can doubt the political wisdom of the first Christian emperor in
putting the seat of government at this place. If Europe, Asia and
Africa are ever brought together under one government or under one
confederation, Constantinople will be the natural and necessary
capital. The shores of Africa, southern Europe and Asia Minor are
washed by the Mediterranean and by its gulfs and bays; the Black Sea
is the outlet of southern Russia and part of Asia Minor, and the new
railroad which is being built to connect Europe with the Euphrates
and India, crosses the Bosphorus here. When this road is finished,
it will be possible to go from London to India in about six days,
and one of the Turkish governors expressed the hope that it would be
completed within six or seven years.
Constantine built a magnificent cathedral, one of the greatest ever
constructed, it being his purpose to surpass any house of worship
that man had reared. It is in the form of a Greek cross and was
originally rich in mosaics, some of which still remain. The dome
is one of the largest in the world. This cathedral, called St.
Sophia, fell into the hands of the Mohammedans when Constantinople
was taken and is now used as a mosque. When hope of successful
resistance was gone, the Christians of Constantinople crowded into
the cathedral--some have estimated the number as high as a hundred
thousand, but that seems hardly possible--praying that the church
might at least be spared, but the leader of the Turks rode into the
building on his charger, and, striking one of the pillars with his
sword, exclaimed; "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his
prophet!" Then followed a slaughter so cruel and bloody that the
Christians never recall the day without indulging the hope that the
building may some day return to the possession of those who cherish
the faith of its founder.
Constantinople is full of mosques, their minarets rising above all
other buildings, but none of them possess for either Christian or
Moslem the importance that attaches to St. Sophia.
The modern mosques lack the stateliness of Constantine's building,
and are not so rich in their ornamentation as some of the mosques
of India. There is one, however, near the upper end of the Golden
Horn which is regarded by the Turks as especially sacred because it
is the burial place of the first Mohammedan (a standard bearer of
Mahomet) who attempted the capture of Constantinople. Each sultan
visits that mosque as he enters upon his reign, and Christians
are not permitted to use the street leading to the mosque. The
sultan visits St. Sophia once a year, but he is in such fear of
assassination that he usually has a street cleared for his passage
and then quietly goes by water to elude the crowd.
[Illustration: THE BOSPHORUS AT CONSTANTINOPLE]
The first settlement at Constantinople, or at Byzantine, as it
was originally called in honor of its founder, was made at what
is now known as Seraglio Point, an elevation which extends into
the Bosphorus between the Sea of Marmora and the Golden Horn. It
commands the best view of any place in the city. The historian,
Bancroft, visited this spot and was so impressed by the magnificence
of the panorama spread out before him that he stood gazing at it
for an hour. This was the site selected for the royal palace, and
the kings, emperors and sultans lived here until recent years,
but it is so exposed to the attack of any hostile fleet that the
sultan's palace has, as a matter of precaution, been removed to the
hills back of Galata, and Seraglio Point is now a sort of curiosity
shop. It is visited with difficulty, permission having to be
obtained from the sultan himself, upon application of the diplomatic
representative of the nation to which the visitor belongs. By the
courtesy of our legation we obtained a permit and found it full of
interest. One of the buildings contains a very old library, another
is a reproduction of a Persian summer house which, a former sultan
having admired, his chief eunuch had removed to Constantinople
without his master's knowledge.
The most important building on the Point, however, is the treasury
where the crown jewels, ornamented arms, royal gifts and the robes
of former sultans are kept. It would require more space than that
allotted to a dozen articles to describe even the more important
pieces of this collection. One room contains two thrones brought
from Persia, one of which must have rivaled the famous Peacock
Throne of Delhi. It is of unusual size and literally covered with
rubies, emeralds and pearls, arranged in graceful patterns. The
seat is of crimson velvet embroidered with gold and pearls. The
other throne, while smaller, is even more richly ornamented; it is
incrusted with larger jewels and has a canopy, from the center of
which is suspended an emerald of enormous size.
Along the walls of one room were exhibited the costumes of the
various sultans from Mohammed II to the present. Nowhere else have
we seen such evidences of Oriental splendor in dress. The robes of
state are flowered and figured and heavy with gold; the turbans are
huge--sometimes fifteen inches in height and breadth--and adorned
with aigrettes of great value. One of these ornaments contains
three stones, a ruby and two emeralds as large as pigeons' eggs and
without a flaw. With each robe is the sword or dagger carried by
the sultan and each has a jeweled handle. While the robes differ in
color and design--as star differeth from star in glory--and while
the aigrettes and sword handles vary in pattern, all are on the same
scale and show lavish expenditure. They are in striking contrast
with the last of the series, which is simply a red military uniform
covered with gold braid.
[Illustration: SMOKING THE HUBBLE-BUBBLE PIPE.]
The treasury contains numerous portraits of sultans and family
trees, presenting the heads of the present royal line. It seems that
nearly all of the Mohammedan rulers wore a full beard, and some of
them had strong faces.
Besides the swords of the sultans, there are in the treasury
innumerable other swords with jeweled handles, and with scabbards
inlaid with gold, silver and gems. There are guns also of every
description, many of them engraved and ornamented with gold and
silver. One fortification gun bears upon the barrel quotations from
the Koran written in gold.
Then there are jewel boxes, vessels of gold and vessels of
silver, rare china, some of it set with jewels, not to speak of
enameled ware and embroideries. Many of these pieces were gifts
sent or brought by other rulers, for in the Orient the gift is as
indispensable in dealing with the sovereign as "baksheesh" is in
dealing with the subordinate Turkish official.
When we had finished the inspection of Seraglio Point, we were
conducted to one of the reception rooms and refreshed with a jam
made of rose leaves, and this was followed by Turkish coffee.
Turkish coffee by the way, is very different from the coffee of the
Occident. The berry is ground or pounded until it is as fine as
flour; it is then put into water and raised to the boiling point and
cooled three times. It is usually served hot, and is very black and
so thick that at least half of the small cup is sediment.
The streets of Constantinople are narrow, crooked and dirty. There
is no park system, and the cemeteries scattered through the city,
being shaded with cypress trees, furnish about the only picnic
grounds for the people. It is not an unusual sight to see a gay
party spreading its lunch amid the tombs. A Mohammedan graveyard
is full of headstones as well as trees, and on top of the stone is
often carved a fez or a turban. While most of this stony head wear
is unadorned, one sees occasionally a painted fez, red being the
popular color.
There is one park, called the Sweet Waters of Europe, and extending
along the stream which bears that name, where the Turkish women
congregate--especially on Friday afternoon. As might be expected,
the men have formed the habit of driving in the park on these days
in order to catch a glimpse of the women, for Turkish women live in
such seclusion that they are seldom seen. They wear veils, but as we
visited the park, we can testify that the veils are not always heavy
enough to conceal the features. When the eye is especially lustrous
or the face more comely than usual, the veil is occasionally lifted.
The ride to and from the park also gives one an opportunity to see
a great many fine teams perfectly matched, for the Turk has caught
the Arab's fondness for the horse.
The bazaars of Constantinople repay a visit, though quite like the
bazaars of Cairo and Damascus. The booths are more substantially
built and more commodious, and the labyrinth of streets and alleys
which form the old bazaar are all under roof. As these passages
wander about aimlessly, one can easily become lost in them. While
one cannot rely upon the first price given, the vendors have a
reputation for honesty, and a lady told us of having had her
attention called to a mistake of five dollars in change and of
having the money returned to her when she next visited the bazaar.
[Illustration: ROBERTS COLLEGE, NEAR CONSTANTINOPLE.]
I mentioned the Oriental dog in speaking of Damascus; he forces
himself upon public attention in Constantinople also. The dogs of
this city act as scavengers and are relied upon to keep the streets
neat--a vain reliance, for while they devour everything that they
can digest, they are not sufficient for the task imposed upon them.
These dogs are wolfish in appearance and generally yellow in color.
Lacking the fidelity which the dog is accustomed to show to his
master, these animals roam about the street and haunt the places
where food is most likely to be found. The people of Constantinople
assert that the dogs maintain a police force of their own, and,
dividing the city into districts, enforce their own regulations. If
a strange dog comes into the district, he is at once driven out by
the canine sentinel on that beat.
The Golden Horn is spanned by two pontoon bridges (if the word
spanned can be used in connection with such a bridge) and the
one connecting the business portions of Stamboul and Galata is a
veritable mint, the income from the tolls amounting at times to two
thousand dollars per day. It is owned by the government, and bridge
companies have offered to replace it with a good bridge for the
income of two or three years, but it is so profitable that it is
allowed to remain in its present dilapidated condition.
One can stand on this bridge and see all phases of life and all
types of human beings. All nationalities meet in Constantinople and
all colors are represented here. Two streams pass each other on this
bridge from dawn to dark, and there is no better place to study the
tragedies and the comedies of life as they are depicted in the faces
of the people.
The haste that is to be seen on the bridge is in sharp contrast
with the air of leisure which pervades the coffee houses and the
side streets where fezzed or turbaned Turks meet to smoke their
hubble-bubble pipes (the smoke being drawn through water) and
discuss such topics as are not forbidden by the extremely watchful
government under which they live.
Before leaving Constantinople we crossed over to the Asiatic side to
visit the American school for girls, which has enjoyed a prosperous
existence for more than twenty years. It is another evidence of the
far-reaching sympathy of the Christian people of the United States
and adds to the feeling of pride with which an American citizen
contemplates the spreading influence of his country.
When we recrossed the Bosphorus we bade farewell to Asia, within
whose borders we had spent about seven months. They have been
wonderfully instructive months, and we have enjoyed the experiences
through which we have passed, but we can not say that we have
fallen in love with Asiatic food. We have been afraid of the raw
vegetables; we have distrusted the water, unless it was boiled, and
we have sometimes been skeptical about the meat. The butter has not
always looked inviting, and our fondness for cream has not been
increased by the sight of the goats driven from door to door and
milked in the presence of the purchaser. The bread was not a rival
for the Vienna brand, and the cooking has not been up to western
standards. But the hen--long life to her! She has been our constant
friend. When all else failed we could fall back upon the boiled egg
with a sense of security and a feeling of satisfaction. If I am not
henceforth a poultry fancier in the technical sense of the term,
I shall return with an increased respect for the common, everyday
barnyard fowl. There are many differences between the east and the
west--difference in race characteristics, differences in costume,
differences in ideals of life, of government and religion, but we
all meet at the breakfast table--the egg, like "a touch of nature,
makes the whole world kin."
[Illustration: AT THE WORLD'S BREAKFAST TABLE.]