There was also at Pera a Neapolitan, called Peter of Naples, with whom I was acquainted. He said he was married in the country of Prester John, and made many efforts to induce me to go thither with him. I questioned him much respecting this country, and he told me many things which I shall here insert, but I know not whether what he said be the truth, and shall not therefore warrant any part of it[483].
Two days after my arrival at Pera, I crossed the haven to Constantinople, to visit that city. It is large and spacious, having the form of a triangle; one side is bounded by the Straits of St. George, another towards the south by the bay, which extends as far as Gallipoli, and on the north side is the port. There are, it is said, three large towns on the earth, each inclosing seven hills,—Rome, Constantinople, and Antioch. Rome is, I think, larger and more compact than Constantinople. As for Antioch, as I only saw it when passing by, I cannot speak of its size; its hills, however, appeared to me higher than those of the two others.
They estimate the circuit of the city of Constantinople at eighteen miles, a third of which is on the land side towards the west. It is well inclosed with walls, particularly on the land side. This extent, estimated at six miles from one angle to the other, has likewise a deep ditch, en glacis, excepting for about two hundred paces at one of its extremities, near the palace called Blaquerne. I was assured that the Turks had failed in their attempt to take the town at this weak part. Fifteen or twenty feet in front of this ditch is a false bray of a good and high wall. At the two extremities of this line were formerly handsome palaces, which, if we may judge from their present ruins, were also very strong. I was told they had been destroyed by an emperor, when taken prisoner by the Turks and in danger of his life. The conqueror insisted on his surrendering Constantinople, and, in case of refusal, threatened to put him to death. The other replied, that he preferred death to the disgrace of afflicting Christendom by so great a loss, and that his death would be nothing in comparison. When the Turk saw he could gain nothing by this means, he offered him his liberty on condition that the square in front of St. Sophia should be demolished, with the two palaces. His project was thus to weaken the town, that he might the more easily take it. The emperor accepted his offers, the proof of which exists at this day.
Constantinople is formed of many separate parts, so that it contains several open spaces to a greater extent than those built on. The largest vessels can anchor under its walls, as at Pera; it has, beside, a small harbour in the interior, capable of containing three or four galleys. This is situated to the southward, near a gate, where a hillock is pointed out composed of bones of the Christians, who, after the conquests of Jerusalem and Acre, by Godfrey de Bouillon, were returning by this strait. When the Greeks had ferried them over, they conducted them to this place, which is remote and secret, where they were murdered. The whole, although a very numerous body, would have thus perished, had not a page found means to re-cross to Asia, and inform them of the danger that awaited them. On this, they spread themselves on the shores of the Black Sea; and from them are said to be descended those rude Christians who inhabit that part of the country—Circassians, Mingrelians, Ziques, Gothlans, and Anangats. But, as this is an old story, I know of it no more than what was told me.
The city has many handsome churches, but the most remarkable and principal is that of St. Sophia, where the patriarch resides, with others of the rank of canons. It is of a circular shape, situated near the eastern point, and formed of three different parts; one subterraneous, another above the ground, and a third over that. Formerly it was surrounded by cloisters, and was three miles, as they say, in circumference. It is now of smaller extent, and only three cloisters remain, all paved, and incrusted with squares of white marble, and ornamented with large columns of various colours[484]. The gates are remarkable for their breadth and height, and are of brass. This church, they say, possesses one of the robes of our Lord, the end of the lance that pierced his side, the sponge that was offered him to drink from, and the reed that was put into his hand. I can only say, that behind the choir, I was shown the gridiron on which St. Laurence was broiled, and a large stone in the shape of a wash-stand, on which they say Abraham gave the angels to eat, when they were going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. I was curious to witness the manner of the Greeks' performing divine service, and went to St. Sophia on a day when the patriarch officiated. The emperor was present, accompanied by his wife, his mother, and his brother, the despot of the Morea[485]. A mystery was represented, the subject of which was the three youths whom Nebuchadnezzar had ordered to be thrown into the fiery furnace[486].
The empress, daughter to the emperor of Trebisonde, seemed very handsome, but as I was at a distance I wished to have a nearer view; and I was also desirous to see how she mounted her horse, for it was thus she had come to the church, attended only by two ladies, three old men, ministers of state, and three of that species of men to whose guard the Turks intrust their wives. On coming out of St. Sophia, she went into an adjoining house to dine, which obliged me to wait until she returned to her palace, and consequently to pass the whole day without eating or drinking. At length she appeared. A bench was brought forth and placed near her horse, which was superb, and had a magnificent saddle. When she had mounted the bench, one of the old men took the long mantle she wore, passed to the opposite side of the horse, and held it in his hands extended as high as he could; during this, she put her foot in the stirrup, and bestrode the horse like a man. When she was in her seat, the old man cast the mantle over her shoulders; after which, one of those long hats with a point, so common in Greece, was given to her; it was ornamented at one of the extremities with three golden plumes, and was very becoming. I was so near that I was ordered to fall back, and, consequently, had a full view of her. She wore in her ears broad and flat rings, set with several precious stones, especially rubies. She looked young and fair, and handsomer than when in church. In one word, I should not have had a fault to find with her, had she not been painted, and assuredly she had not any need of it. The two ladies mounted their horses at the same time that she did; they were both handsome, and wore, like her, mantles and hats. The company returned to the palace of Blaquerne.
In the front of St. Sophia is a large and handsome square, surrounded with walls like a palace, where games were performed in ancient times[487]. I saw the brother of the emperor, the despot of the Morea, exercising himself there, with a score of other horsemen. Each had a bow, and they galloped along the inclosure, throwing their hats before them, which, when they had passed, they shot at; and he who with his arrow pierced his hat, or was nearest to it, was esteemed the most expert. This exercise they had adopted from the Turks, and it was one of which they were endeavouring to make themselves masters.
On this side, near the point of the angle, is the beautiful church of St. George, which has, fronting Turkey in Asia, a tower at the narrowest part of the straits. On the other side, to the westward, is a very high square column, with characters traced on it, and bearing on the summit an equestrian statue of Constantine, in bronze. He holds a sceptre in his left hand, with his right extended towards Turkey in Asia, and the road to Jerusalem, as if to denote that the whole of that country was under his government. Near this column are three others, placed in a line, and of one single piece, bearing three gilt horses, now at Venice[488].
In the pretty church of the Panthéacrator, occupied by Greek monks, who are what we should call in France Grey Franciscan Friars, I was shown a stone or table of divers colours, which Nicodemus had caused to be cut for his own tomb, and which he made use of to lay out the body of our Lord, when he took him down from the cross. During this operation the virgin was weeping over the body, but her tears, instead of remaining on it, fell on the stone, and they are all now to be seen upon it. I at first took them for drops of wax, and touched them with my hand, and then bended down to look at them horizontally, and against the light, when they seemed to me like drops of congealed water. This is a thing that may have been seen by many persons as well as myself. In the same church are the tombs of Constantine and of St. Helena, his mother, raised each about eight feet high on a column, having its summit terminated in a point, cut into four sides, in the fashion of a diamond. It is reported that the Venetians, while in power at Constantinople, took the body of St. Helena from its tomb, and carried it to Venice, where they say it is now entire. It is added, that they attempted the same thing in regard to the body of Constantine, but could not succeed; and this is probable enough, for to this day two broken parts are to be seen, where they made the attempt. The two tombs are of red jasper.
In the church of St. Apostola is shown the broken shaft of the column to which our Saviour was fastened when he was beaten with rods, by order of Pilate. This shaft, longer than the height of a man, is of the same stone with the two others that I have seen, at Rome and at Jerusalem; but this exceeds in size the other two put together. There are likewise in the same church, in wooden coffins, many holy bodies, very entire, and any one that chooses may see them. One of them had his head cut off, and that of another saint has been given him. The Greeks, however, have not the like devotion that we have for these relics. It is the same in respect to the stone of Nicodemus and the pillar of our Lord, which last is simply inclosed by planks, and placed upright near one of the columns on the right hand of the great entrance at the front of the church.