The Antiquities of Constantinople. Gilles Pierre

Plain of the fifth Hill, which in some Places is six hundred, and in others seven hundred Paces broad. But beyond the Ridge of this Hill it widens to a great Distance, as far as the Plain of the fourth Hill, and shoots on with the Plain of the Promontory, and falls down to the Neck of the Isthmus, and so extending it self still on, is at least two thousand Paces in Length.

      Chap. XV.

      Of the Fifth Valley

      THE fifth Valley, which divides the fifth from the sixth Hill, winding from North to South, is as long as the Promontory is broad; that is, about twelve hundred Paces; the first eight hundred of which have no Ascent. The Valley, at the first Entrance into it, is at least four hundred Paces broad, but is afterwards straitned into half that Breadth; and yet to the Length of six hundred Paces, ’tis in no Place less than two hundred Paces broad. Farther, ’tis at least five hundred Paces wide. Above this, is the Top of the Valley, or the Ridge of the Promontory, opening upon a Level Breadth of two hundred Paces. From the Top of this Promontory, to the left Side of it, there falls a Valley with a gentle Descent, to the Distance of five hundred Paces, where it descends into another Valley, which divides the Promontory from the seventh Hill. The fifth Valley seems to cut through the Ridge of the Promontory. This may easily be discerned by the right and left Descent of the two Hills which lie nearest to it; for there is a very easy Ascent from the Height of this Valley, to the Top of either Hill.

      Chap. XVI

      THE sixth Hill is just as long as the Promontory is broad, which is widen’d upon this Hill to the Breadth of two thousand four hundred Paces. The City Walls shoot over the Ridge, and the North Side of it down to the Sea Shore. You descend gradually from the Top of it within the Walls; without the Walls it lies upon a Level, and is join’d to the Continent by a Field in the Suburbs. The broadest part of it is not above eight hundred Paces, the narrowest but four hundred. It descends with a treble Declivity; one on the left Hand of the Promontory, with an easy Descent at South-east; another on the right falling to the Bay Northward, which extends itself to the Distance of fifteen hundred Paces. There are two lesser Hills, separated by a small Valley, which run between them. At the Foot of that lesser Hill which stands nearest to the City Wall, there is an Aqueduct. Between this Hill and the Bay, there formerly stood the Church of the Blachernæ, which has been recorded in the Writings of many Historians. The Foundation of this Church was remaining, when I first arrived at Constantinople. From the Foot of this Hill, which stands above the Church I have mention’d, there rises a Spring, whose Waters are convey’d thro’ arch’d subterraneous Passages into the City, where, appearing above Ground, they flow constantly into a Marble Cistern. That Side of the sixth Hill which lies Eastward, is as long as the Hill itself; but does not, in all parts of it, fall with the same Descent. For the Descent varies, according as the Valley adjoining lies higher or lower. Where the Valley lies upon the Level, the Pitch of the Hill rises to the Height of six hundred Paces; where it does not lie so low, ’tis not above five hundred Paces high; where it rises higher, not above four hundred. Nor does this Side of the Hill shoot only Eastward, but does also, on the right Side of it, project Northward, and on the left Side of it extend itself full South-west. The Plain on the Shore, which lies between the Foot of the Hill and the Bay, in the narrow part of it, is not above eight hundred Paces broad, I mean in that Place where the Church of the Blachernæ stood formerly, as did also a Triclinium; but farther on it winds round into the third Valley, and widens much more.

      Chap. XVII.

      Of the Valley which divides the Promontory from the seventh Hill

      THE Valley which divides the seventh from the six Hills of the Promontory, is an easy Descent. It extends itself in Length to the Distance of four thousand Paces, if you take in the Plain on the Sea Shore. If you exclude that, and take your Dimensions from the winding of the seventh Hill, ’tis not above three thousand three hundred Paces long. It lies so much upon a Level, that you cannot perceive by walking it, that it has the least Ascent; yet you may discover by the Discernment of the Eye that it sensibly lengthens and widens itself into a greater Breadth. It bounds the Sides of the third and the fifth Valley, and the lowest Eminences of the fifth and sixth Hills. It is full of Gardens and pleasant Meadows. Here the Soldiers sometimes act their Mock-Fights. There’s a Rivulet which runs through the Middle of it, which is often dry in Summer Time.

      Chap. XVIII.

      Of the seventh Hill

      THE seventh Hill is called the Xerolophos, on which stands the Pillar of Arcadius. This Hill is little less than twelve thousand Paces in Circumference, and contains more than a third Part of the City. The other two Parts are comprehended in the Compass of the Promontory, which is above twenty thousand Paces in Circumference. By Paces, I would here be thought to mean the ordinary Steps we take in Walking, which I cannot exactly reduce to a just Mensuration with the Roman Pace, by reason of the Turnings and Windings of the Ways, and the Differences of Paces, which are longer or shorter, according to the different Ascents and Descents of the Ground we walk. This Hill makes the third Angle of the City, from whence Constantinople is look’d upon to be of a triangular Figure. It lies shelving with a very moderate Descent, and has a double Declivity; one of which falls gently into the Valley, which divides the seventh Hill from the Promontory, and is of an equal Length with the Valley itself. The other Descent, which partly lies to the South-east, and partly to the South, falls into the Propontis, and is in some Places five hundred Paces steep, in others four hundred, three hundred, a hundred, nay even fifty, till it comes to the Point of the third Angle of the City, whence a large Plain shoots out towards the Sea, which, in different Places, is of a different Breadth. The Entrance of this Plain, at the Angle of the City just mention’d, is very narrow; it afterwards widens, which is occasioned by the Winding of one of its Sides, from whence it gently rises to the Foot of a small Hill, where ’tis four hundred Paces broad; onwards it is straiten’d into fifty, and afterwards is widen’d into a Breadth of a hundred Paces only. The End of this Plain, to the Distance of a thousand Paces, is more than four hundred Paces broad. On the Ridge of this Hill, there is a Plain of some Length and Breadth; the Hill itself is bounded by the Land Wall, and on the Top of it is a Cistern which is call’d Mocisia, which is wholly unroof’d, and stripp’d of its Pillars. This Cistern is nine hundred and seventy Paces in Circumference. The Walls of it, which are made of squared Free-stone, are still remaining; and the Ground where it stands, is now turn’d into a Garden.

      Thus is it that I have laid before the Reader a Plan or Description of the Situation of the City of Constantinople, by which means the Situation of the Wards of that City will be more easily discovered. I hope I shall not be thought to have dwelt too long on this Subject, since a verbal Delineation of it is the most concise way of coming to the Knowledge of it. For although Constantinople, by reason of the Eminency of its Situation, affords a most agreeable Prospect at the remotest Distance, yet thus to particularize the several Parts of the City, leads the Reader into a more exact and more expeditious Insight into it, than any other Method of Information whatsoever.

      Chap. XIX.

      Of the Walls of the City

      THE Walls of Constantinople, in some Places, are built with squared Free-stone, in others with rough Stone, and in many Places with an Intermixture of Brick and Stone together. The Walls on the Land Side are double, secured with a large Ditch five and twenty Paces broad. One of the Walls is carry’d somewhat farther than the Length of the Ditch, and is very strongly fortified. These Walls stand at eighteen Foot Distance from each other. The inward Wall is very lofty, and more than twenty Foot in Thickness, upon which are built two hundred and fifty Towers with Steps, facing the Continent. The outward Wall is not above half as big, but has the same Number of Towers. As to the Nature of its Fortification, the Ground that takes up the Distance between the Ditch and the outward Wall, is higher than the adjoining Side of the Ditch, and the Ground between the two Walls is higher than that. The Countrey opening without the Walls is not incumber’d with Buildings, and is partly hilly, and partly upon the Level, but chiefly upon the latter, so that you have a delightful Prospect over the Fields before you, and a very extensive View