/. Lawrence Smith on the Thermal Waters of Asia Minor. 367 



aqueducts, baths, &c. Their extent gives evidence of the celeb- 

 rity they enjoyed in former times. The styles of their architec- 

 ture belong to different periods. The remains of the brick edi- 

 fices are evidently of the period of the Lower Empire, for on 

 many of the bricks are to be found an impress of the cross, and 

 Latin words written in Greek letters. To judge from the form 

 of these letters, particularly the epsilons, sigmas and omegas, one 

 IS led to believe that they date from the Justinian age. The mas- 

 sive stone arches, which support the vault under which the wa- 

 ters rise, seem to have been constructed by the Romans. Their 

 structure presents nothing which opposes the idea received by 



the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, namely, that they 



were constructed during the reign of Constantine the Great. And 

 what seems to sustain this hypothesis, is, the popular legend that 

 the mother of Constantine was indebted to these waters at one 

 period of her life, for her restoration to health ; and from this 

 fact (according to the authority of the celebrated archaeologist, 

 the Patriarch of Constantius) Yalova was formerly called Hel- 

 enapolis. 



In want of more exact data we may cite as sustaining this 

 supposition, the custom of the Greek villagers of the neighbor- 

 nood, kept up for many centuries, of assembling at these baths 

 on the anniversary of ihe fetes of St. Constantine and St. Helena, 

 to celebrate the virtue of these waters. Von Hammer in his 

 history of the Turkish Empire, alludes to this place in the fol- 

 lowing words : " Some leagues from Cara-Mursal on the south 

 side of the Gulf of Nicomedia, there exist the baths of Yalova 

 (ancient Sergla or Trepanon). This place was adorned with a 

 great number of palaces and hospitals by the Empress Helen, 

 whose father had kept an inn there. This place was afterwards 

 raised to the rank of a city bv Constantine, the founder of the 

 Byzantine empire, and called Helenapolis in honor of his mother. 

 It was to this place that the first army of the crusaders, conducted 

 py Peter the hermit and Gautier sans-avoir, took refuge after hc- 

 i»g routed near Nice. It was here also that tbe Saracens con- 

 structed pyramids and towers with human bones. Helenapolis 

 has been at all times celebrated for its thermal waters. Near 

 their source is to be seen the tomb of an Abdal, that is, an enthu- 

 siastic dervish, who armed with a wooden sword undertook at 

 the head of a body of Mussulmans to conquer this city." 



There are several ancient authors who allnde to these sprmgs, 

 among whom are Ammianus, Marcellinus, Mela, and Anna Com- 



menus. 



Yalova, which is now but a small village, was formerly the 

 place of debarkation for the inhabitants of the celebrated cities of 



?^icomedia, of Nicea, and of the numerous cities of Bithynia, 

 ^'isited these springs. The port of Couri, whose atitiqui 



who 



