THE
ANTIQUITIES
OF
Constantinople.
BOOK IV.
Chap. I.
Of the Eleventh Ward, and of the Fourth and Fifth Hills.
I had been at a Loss to discover the eleventh Ward, (which, tho’ the ancient Description of the Wards mentions to have been wider in Compass than the Tenth, and in no Part of it bounded by the Sea; as also that it partly consisted of a Level, and partly of a rising Ground) unless the Author had subjoin’d, that it contain’d also the Church of the Apostles, And tho’ at present there’s nothing remaining of that Church, yet I was inform’d by some ancient People of Constantinople, who told me, that they remembred it stood upon the Back of the fourth Hill; which fell upon a Hill of the third Valley, near the Sadlers Shops, and the Sepulchre of Mahomet the Emperor. I observe from hence, that the eleventh Ward was Part on the Top of the same Hill, and Part on the North Side of it. I shall shew by what follows, that this Ward reach’d to the Land-Wall of the City, which divided the Eleventh, from the fourteenth Ward, and which was also itself divided from the City by an intermediate Space of Land. I shall convince the Reader presently, that this Ward was situate on the sixth Hill, without the Walls of the City, and was afterwards wall’d round by Theodosius the Less. The Walls built by Constantine are said to have reach’d as far as the Churches of St. Anthony, and St. Mary, who was call’d Rabdos, and from thence to have risen to a Land-Wall call’d Exacionion, which took its Name from hence, viz. That without the Land-Wall there stood a Pillar, on which was erected the Statue of Constantine the Great. Some modern Writers will have it, that he built a Church which he dedicated to the Holy Trinity in a Place call’d the Exacionion, now call’d the Church of the Apostles; for, if I am not mistaken, the Walls of Constantine were built upon the Borders of the fourth and fifth Hill, near the Exacionion, Cedrinus writes, that the Walls of the City, the beautiful Churches, the fine Houses seated in the Exacionion were thrown down by a dreadful Earthquake. They tell us in other Places, tho’ not consistently with themselves, that there were Portico’s which reach’d from the Miliarium to the Street call’d Taurus, and to the Gates of St. John the Baptist’s Church near the Hippodrom, which are more than a thousand Roman Paces distant from the Church of the Apostles, and as far from the Walls of the City which were built by Constantine, as may be gather’d from the following Passage of Sozomen. Theodosius, says this Author, leading his Army against Eugenius, went a Mile out of the City to the Church of St. John, which he had built in the Hepdomum. This Hepdomum was a Part of the Suburbs of the City, but is now enclos’d within the Walls, as will appear when I come to speak of it. If the Pillar from whence the Exacionion took its Name, was the same with that high Pillar which stood on the Top of the fifth Hill, and was seen not long since at a great Distance from the City, above all the Houses, we might easily discover, that the Walls built by Constantine did not reach beyond this Pillar, which stood about half a Mile’s distance from the Church of the Apostles. I saw this Pillar took to Pieces, and remov’d for building a Mosque, by Order of Solyman the Emperor. The Base, the Pedestal and the Foundation of it were of white Marble. The Foundation-Stone alone was so high, that I could not climb it without a Ladder. The Pedestal was four Foot and nine Digits high, and the Plinth one Foot, and six Digits. The Greeks and the Turks, each in their Dialect, call’d it the Pillar of the Virgin, which I take to be that celebrated by our modern Writers, which they say was erected upon a Hill, and supported the Statue of Venus, carv’d in Stone. When the Ancient Description of the Wards tells us, that the eleventh Ward is no Ways bounded by the Sea, it must be so understood as to mean, that the Plain situated between the Bay of Ceras, and the Foot of the fourth Hill, was not within the Walls, since the same Treatise mentions, that the City was six thousand one hundred and fifty Foot broad; that is, a Mile and two hundred and thirty Paces; for the Latitude of the Isthmus, which stretches itself over the fourth and seventh Hill, thro’ which the old Wall extended itself, exceeds the Breadth abovemention’d. But Zosimus, an ancient Historian, says, that Constantine the Great so wholly surrounded the City with a Wall, that it cut off the Isthmus from Sea to Sea. So that upon the whole, there is a Necessity to place the Plain, situate between the Bay, and the Bottom of the fourth Hill, in the tenth Ward.
Chap. II.
Of the Church of the Apostles, the Sepulchre of Constantine the Great, the Cistern of Arcadius and Modestus, of the Palace of Placilla, and the Brazen Bull.
’TIS attested by Eusebius, That Constantine the Great built the Church of the Apostles to a great Heighth, that he incrusted it with all Sorts of variegated Marble, which cast a beautiful Lustre from Top to Bottom; that he adorn’d it with small gilded Roofs, and cover’d it with Plates of Brass deeply gilt, which cast a blazing Reflexion to a great Distance. The upper Part of this venerable Structure, was curiously wrought all round it with Brass and Gold, and was enlightned with Abundance of Lattices and Windows. Round the Church there was a fine Court lying open to the Air. The Portico’s which enclos’d it, stood in a Quadrangular Manner. Near the Portico’s stood the Palace, the Bagnio’s, the Cloysters, and many other Houses and Buildings belonging to the Ecclesiasticks, and other Ministers of the Church. These bountiful Benefactions has the pious Emperor handed down to Posterity in Memory of the Apostles of the blessed Saviour of Mankind, to whom also he consecrated twelve Purses of Gold. The Coffin in which he intended to be buried after he was dead, was plac’d by his Order in the Body of the Church, and guarded with the twelve Apostles in Effigy. ’Tis added by Socrates, that the Body of Constantine lying in a golden Coffin, was brought into the City by his intimate Friends, and buried in the Church of the Apostles. I am inclin’d to believe, that Zonaras never read Eusebius, when he tells us, that ’twas buried in the Cloyster of the Church of the Apostles, which, he says, was built by Constantius for the Interrment of his Father. Near the broad Way which stretches itself along the Top of the Promontory, from the Church of St. Sophia, to the Gate of Adrianople, (hard by the Place where stood the Church of the Apostles,) there is shewn to this Day, a Coffin made of Porphyry Marble, empty; and without a Cover, ten Foot long, and five Foot and a half broad, which the Greeks and Turks say, was the Coffin of Constantine the Great; but I cannot vouch for the Truth of it: Yet the Authorities of Socrates and Eusebius seem to be somewhat doubtful, who tell us, that he was buried in a golden Coffin, unless perhaps the golden Coffin was inclos’d in that of the Porphyry Marble. Zonaras is of Opinion, that Theodora, the Wife of Justinian, built the Church of the Apostles; and adds, that there was anciently in the same Place a Church of the Apostles, but much Inferior in Beauty and Magnificence to that which stands at present, on the same Ground. Procopius says, that there had been for some Ages, a Church at Constantinople which was much impair’d by Time, and likely to fall, which Justinian order’d to be taken down, rebuilt, and enlarg’d, and made in the Figure of a Cross, the Body of the Church pointing East, and West, and the Part crossing it, North, and South. This Church is well wall’d, and adorn’d within with Ranges of Pillars standing one above another: Evagrius therefore seems to be mistaken, in attributing the Building of this Church to Justinian, when it is evident it was built by Constantine the Great; and Procopius too grosly flatters Justinian in ascribing to him the Building of many fine Structures, whereas, in reality, he only repair’d them when they were old, or rebuilt them when fall’n too much to decay, or destroy’d by Fire. There’s nothing remaining of this Church at present, no, not even of its Foundation. You see only the Ruines of an old Cistern, which supply’d the Church, and the Clergy with Water. There are now standing upon the same Spot of Ground about two hundred Sadlers Shops, and Work-houses, where they make and sell not only all kinds of Horse-Geer, but also Leathern Bucketts, Quivers, and Trunks. A little above this Cistern, stands a Mosque, with a Caravansera adjoining to it, situate on a Plain, which was built with square Stone, after the Form of the Church of St. Sophia, out of the Ruins and Sacrilege of the Church of the Apostles, and other Christian Churches by Mahomet, who took the City. The Roof is of a Semicircular Figure, made of Brick-Work, and cover’d with Lead, as are all the publick Buildings of the Turks. ’Tis beautify’d with a very elegant square Porch as broad as the Church itself, pav’d with the finest Marble, and adorn’d with square Portico’s. The Arches of them, which bear up the Roof, are supported with very large Pillars of Marble, curiously variegated. In the Middle of it is a Fountain with nine Pipes, whose Waters fall into a great Bason. Round the Mosque is a spacious Court, Part of which is enclos’d with Walls, and Part with long kind of Houses, some of which are inhabited by their Priests, and School-Masters. In the Eastern Part of this Court there’s a Garden, in the Middle of which stands the Sepulchre of Mahomet, built in a Cylindric Form of the whitest Marble. ’Tis covered with Lead, lighted with Windows, and has a Door of Entrance into it. In the Middle of this Structure is the Coffin of Mahomet, cover’d with Velvet, placed on the Ground on a rich Carpet. The Ground is wholly covered with the most costly Carpets, where the Priests continually sit, and guard the Body Night and Day. A little without the Court are several large Caravansera’s, built also with square Stone, which have Court-yards in the Middle of them, and Portico’s surrounded with Marble Pillars. These Caravansera’s have large Gardens adjoyning to them. In short, this Mosque, with the adjacent Buildings round the Court, with the Caravansera’s and Gardens, take up a Space of Ground six Furlongs in Compass. Mahomet, the same Emperor, built in this Place, where had formerly been the Old Cistern of Arcadius, or Modestus, the largest Bagnio’s in all the City. These Baths were of two Kinds, some for Men, and some for Women. They adjoin to each other, but have different Entries without any Passage out of one into the other. I shall only describe the Mens Baths; because the Womens are like them. The first Place you enter is the Room where they undress. From hence you pass into the hot, and from thence into the cold Bath. They all stand in one Range, and are only separated by Walls from each other. The Room where they undress is a square Structure, built of square Stone up to the Roof, which is arch’d and built with Brick; the Inside of which, measuring two hundred and fifty eight Foot in compass, is surrounded with an Ascent of Stone, above six Foot broad, and three Foot high. The Wall of this Room, from the Pavement to the Bottom of the arch’d Roof is thirty seven Foot high. In the Middle of the Floor, which is pav’d with Marble, there’s a large Marble Bason, which is thirty seven Foot in compass, and three Foot deep, which is always supply’d from a Fountain of Spring Water. There are two Doors out of the stripping Room into the hot Bath. This Apartment is a hundred Foot in compass in the Inside of it, and is supported with four Arches, which bear up a Dome at the Top. It contains eight Cells or bathing Rooms; one of which, not above half so large as the rest, has some Privies behind it, which are cleans’d by an Efflux of all the Waters which are turn’d out of the Bath. Six of these Cells have, each of them, a bathing Cistern, and are built in such a Manner, that two of these Arches hang each of them over one bathing Room; from whence you may pass, on the Right and on the Left, into another. The Cells under the other two Arches are so form’d, that that Arch which is nearest the Doors which lead out of the stripping Room into the hot Bath, hangs over a very large bathing Room. ’Tis pav’d with Marble, and the Turks wash their Linen in this Place. A plain Wall arch’d at top parts the hot from the cold Bath. In the Middle of the hot Bath there is a Bason with a Fountain playing. There is but one Door which leads out of the hot into the cold Bath. This Apartment has eight Arches which support its Dome, and contains eight bathing Places, which project beyond the Sphere of its Dome, and encircle the whole Bagnio, which is about ninety Foot in compass. The whole Pavement of it is lay’d with Marble, and in the Middle of it is built an Ascent in the Form of an Octagon, which is fifty seven Foot, and nine Inches in Circumference, and two Foot and four Digits high. Round the Octagon there runs a Channel of Water, which is of the same Depth with the Height of the Octagon. The four inward bathing Rooms are situate in four Angles, and are each of them every Way eleven Foot and three Digits broad, and these are call’d the Hot-Houses or Sweating-Bagnio’s. The Dimension of the two Bathing Rooms, which are situate without the two Arches, is the same. The other six Bathing Rooms are of a Semicircular Figure, and stand under six Arches within the Circle of the Dome of the hot Bath. At the Bottom of the Pillars which support the Arches, they are eleven Foot in length, and five Foot nine Inches in breadth. Every one of these Bathing Rooms has a Marble Cistern wherein they bath; and in one of them above the rest, there is erected a stately Marble Throne. There are no Lights in the Walls either of the hot or cold Baths, tho’ the Domes of them are wholly illuminated with Glass-Windows. The Stoke-Hole, which is two Foot and a half in compass, and of the same height, is built without the Baths. They keep a constant Fire in it, which heats a Brazen Vessel, whence it emits its warm Steams thro’ Pipes laid in a strait, and an oblique Manner, by that means heating the Bottom of the Cisterns in which they bath. There is a Rivulet in a Field of the Suburbs, about six Foot in breadth, which runs near the Stoke-Hole. There are Pipes laid in this Brook, which convey the Water thro’ the Walls of these Baths into all Parts of them. One of these Pipes which passes thro’ a heated Earthen Vessel, upon turning a Cock, supplies the Cisterns with hot Water; the other Pipe which rises higher, upon the turning of an other Cock, tempers the hot Water according to the Pleasure of the Person who baths in it. But I shall treat of the Use of Bathing, and the Way of building Bagnio’s among the Turks in another Place. I return now to the eleventh Ward, which Procopius takes Notice of, when he tells us, that Theodora the Consort of Justinian address’d herself to him in the following Manner: We have, may it please your Imperial Majesty, other Palaces still remaining, which are call’d the Palaces of Helena, as we have also those of Placilla, the Wife of Theodosius the Great. For as Justinus honour’d his Empress with several noble Palaces, which, after her own Name, were call’d the Palaces of Sophia, so it is highly probable that Theodosius did Placilla the same Honour in building a Palace for her, which was call’d the Palace of Placilla. I am induc’d to believe this, because he passionately lov’d her, and by Reason of that strong Resentment he bore to the People of Antioch, whom he subjected to the Dominion of the Laodenses, for demolishing the Statues of Placilla, plac’d in his own Forum, because he lay’d an additional Tribute upon them. This Palace may not improperly be call’d also the Palace of Flacilla, of whom Claudian speaks in the following Lines: