CONSTANTINOPLE. 



415 



sively made, military governor and generalissimo of i 

 the Polish troops, and was present, as a deputy, at the 

 last diet. He resided at Warsaw in great splendour. 

 By an imperial ukase of April 2, 1820, he was 

 divorced from his wife, a princess of Coburg, who 

 resides in Switzerland, and was married, May 24, 

 1820, by permission of the emperor, to a Polish 

 countess, Johanna Grudzinska, who was afterwards 

 honoured with the title of princess of Lowicz, from 

 the name of some estates in Masovia, which were 

 bestowed upon the grand-prince. The title was to 

 descend to the children of the marriage. Before this 

 marriage took place, it was decreed, oy an imperial 

 ukase, that the children of princes, who were not re- 

 lated, by the mother's side, to any reigning house, 

 should have no claims to the throne of Russia, in any 

 case whatever. The prince had, during the life- 

 time of his brother Alexander, renounced, in a sacred 

 instrument, dated January 14, 1822, all pretensions 

 to the throne ; notwithstanding which, he was pro- 

 claimed emperor, at Petersburg, in his absence, 

 upon the decease of his brother, in December, 1825 ; 

 but, as he preferred to adhere to his renunciation, his 

 younger brother, Nicholas, became successor to Alex- 

 ander. The grand-prince was present at the coro- 

 nation of his brother, at Moscow, September 3, 

 1826. In 1829, the grand-prince retired from War- 

 saw, where he resided during the time of his admi- 

 nistration, which had little to distinguish it but the 

 rude and savage character of the ruler. He died in 

 1831, execrated by the Poles, as one of their most 

 barbarous oppressors. Many of the actions recorded 

 of him, prove him to have been a tyrannical monster 

 of the worst description, whose very existence was 

 an outrage to humanity. 



CONSTANTINE COLUMN. See Column. 



CONSTANTINOPLE (the city of Constantine), 

 called, by the Oriental nations, Constantinia, by the 

 Turks, Istambol (that is, "into the city"), by the 

 Walachians and Bulgarians, Zaregrad (royal city,) 

 was built, by Constantine the Great, on the site of 

 the city of Byzantium, consecrated in the year 330, 

 and named from him. It was, till the year 1453, the 

 capital and residence of the emperors of the East, 

 and has been, since that time, the capital of the Turk- 

 ish sultans. This city has been besieged twenty- 

 four times, but taken only six, viz., by Alcibiades, 

 Severus, Constantine, Dandolo, Michael Palaeologus, 

 and Mohammed. It lies in the government of Ru- 

 melia (Rom-Ilf), on the sea of Marmora, and at the 

 south-western opening of the Thracian Bosphorus, 

 which separates Europe from Asia. It has a large 

 and sate harbour. The interior of the city but ill 

 corresponds to its noble amphitheatrical site and the 

 splendour of its mosques and palaces. The streets 

 are generally narrow, dirty, and steep ; the houses, 

 for the most part, low, and built of mud and wood. 

 There is also a great want of open squares. The 

 largest open space is the Atmeidan, which is 250 

 paces long, 150 broad, and ornamented with an obe- 

 lisk of granite sixty feet in height. The air is 

 healthy ; but from the neglect of all precautionary 

 measures, the plague is brought hither from Egypt 

 almost every year. The heat of summer is moder- 

 ated by the winds from the Black sea ; but these 

 winds often produce a change from heat to cold, 

 which is very unpleasant. The city, without includ- 

 ing the suburbs, is about eleven or twelve miles in 

 circumference. Including the suburbs, it is about 

 fifty-five miles in circuit. The number of inhabitants 

 in the city and suburbs is estimated, by Von Ham- 

 mer, at 630,000; by others at 1,000,000, of whom 

 above 200,000 are Greeks, more than 40,000 Arme- 

 nian Christians, more than 60,000 Jews, and the 

 remainder Turks. Before the last great fire, the 



city contained 80,000 houses. It has the form of a 

 triangle, with bent sides and an obtuse angle at the 

 vertex. This vertex borders upon the straits ; the 

 north side upon the harbour, and the south upon the 

 sea of Marmora. The west side, or base of the 

 triangle, toward the main land, is the longest of the 

 three sides, and extends, in a somewhat curved di- 

 rection, from the harbour to the sea of Marmora 

 upon the south. Upon the south-west side, not far 

 from the sea, and within the wall, is the fortress of 

 the Seven Towers. It included, at first seven, after- 

 wards eight towers, of which four were destroyed by 

 an earthquake in 1754, and one in 1766. In the 

 quarter belonging to the arsenal, which extends 

 around upon the outside of the fresh water canal, 

 are reckoned some portions of the city, which extend 

 towards Galata. They are comprehended under the 

 name of Kassum Paschi. Here are the residence 

 of the capudan pacha, the arsenal, the navy-yard, 

 and the prison of the galleys. Not far from this is 

 the bagnio, or prison of the royal slaves, who are 

 cruelly kept at hard labour in this swampy place. 

 The suburb of Galata, surrounded by a wall of its 

 own, lies opposite the seraglio, upon the harbour 

 or strait which comes from the Black sea, is of con- 

 siderable size, contains many large houses, and is the 

 residence of the European merchants. Still farther, 

 upon the straits, lies Tophana, which derives its name 

 from the cannon-foundery. Upon the heights op- 

 posite Galata and Tophana lies the suburb of Pera, 

 in which the European ambassadors reside. Not far 

 from this is the open burying-place, for Europeans ; 

 and upon the heights just by is the suburb of St 

 Demetrius, inhabited, for the most part, by Greeks. 

 If you sail towards the Asiatic side, you find, in the 

 middle of the strait, upon a rock, the town of Lean- 

 der, which is a sort of fortress and prison, and has 

 some cannon. Beyond it lies the suburb of Scutari, 

 also of considerable magnitude. The fortifications 

 of Constantinople are unimportant. A wall, provid- 

 ed with 548 towers, partly of stone and partly of 

 brick, which, towards the land is double, and bor- 

 dered by a broad ditch, surrounds the whole city. 

 Upon the side towards the land, there are six gates ; 

 upon the sea of Marmora, seven ; and as many as 

 thirteen upon the harbour, besides numerous smaller 

 ones. The suburbs are, for the most part, open ; but 

 some are surrounded by old walls, built by the Greeks 

 and Genoese. 



The seraglio (q. v.) is a collection of dwellings, 

 baths, mosques, kiosks, gardens, and groves of cy- 

 press. To distinguish it from other palaces, the 

 Turks call it the Padisha Serai, or imperial palace. 

 To the south-east of it lie the gulf of Nice, the coast 

 of Asia, and especially Scutari ; towards the north- 

 east, it borders upon the beautiful environs of the 

 straits of Constantinople, and the suburbs of Tophana, 

 Pera, Galata, which rise like terraces on the side of 

 the hills opposite to it. With its garden, it forms a 

 little city by itself, and is surrounded by a high wall, 

 which is guarded by cannon upon the side towards 

 the strait. These are discharged during the walks or 

 the sultan, and also to celebrate occasions of public 

 rejoicing. Single discharges indicate the execution 

 of state-criminals within the walls of the seraglio. 

 The chief entrance, before which, upon the one side, 

 is the ancient church of St Sophia, and upon the 

 other a beautiful fountain, opens into the first court, 

 which is irregular and badly paved, having on its 

 left the mint, and on its right the stables, together 

 with a large hospital, and other buildings. Here is 

 also the royal mosque. At the distance of about 1000 

 paces from the outer gate is the second. It is, like 

 the first, guarded by capidschis, and leads to a second 

 court smaller, but more elegant than the first. The 



