The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1854-02-01
Dark Arches under Constantinople or
the Sultan's Refuge.

When Russia, as now appears almost
inevitable, marches to the gates of Con.
stantinople, the struggle will be fierce
and protracted Under the banner of
the Prophet, the Turks vii! fight valiant.
ly. They will oppose the fierccst fanat.
icism to the discipline of foe as skill.
full as rugged. Aud who can doubt the
result However, should the enemy up.
proach Constantinoplc, the city might be
defended to an indefinite period that
is, supposing the fleets of France and
England kept the communications by sea
open and uninterrupted-for the walls
of Constantincplc arc considered very
good.Thosc On the land side have double
range, twenty-five feet broad The out
cr wall, which is about twelve feet high,
is defended by two hundred and fifty
strong towers. The inner wall is about
twenty feet high, with towers similar to
those of the outer. Military stratcgsts
consider that if all these points were
well fortified, and the sea approaches
kept clear of the enemy, Constantinople
might be defended against any force
which the power Of Russia could bring
against it. But supposing the city was
reduced to the last extremity, it might
still be desperately defended The pop.
ulation would be destroyed, but the mil
itary could hold out until famine swept
them away. For the storage of provis-
ions, the wonderful vaults of CONSTANT
noplc supply ample convenience. One
of Them affords abundance of pure fresh
water; in fact, it is a subtcrrancan res
crvoir.
The vast underground elifccs rank a
mong the most remarkable monuments
of old Constantlnople. They were built
by the Greeks as cisterns, and were al
ways kept full in cases Of siege
Through the neglect of the Turks, many
Of them are much decayed, and some
are wholly blocked up, SO that their po.
sitions are unknown. There is one vault
called ''the palace of the thousand and
one pillars" which the Turks allow
strangers to inspect The entrance to
it is from the centre of tie city down q
narrow but substantial and well prescrv.
cd stone staircase. Instead of being a
cistern filled with an immense body of
water, it is occupied as a silk factory
It is about thirty feet deep, and the roof
is about six feet from the surface of the
street. This vault extends over about
an acre of ground. But the greatest
curiosity is the vault which still exists
as clstern. This vault the Turks
guard with the greatest jealousy-yery
few, even of those who live about it, be
ing aware of the precise locality. 1t is
subterrancan lake, extending under
many streets, and the former has an
arched roof, supported by three hundred
and thirty.six pillars of solid marble
An English gentleman, who was fortun
ate to obtain access to it, has supplied
us with very animated description Of
its appearance. He says
Having learned that there was {
Greek reservoir in the the city, in goot
preservation, end still partially full Of
water, made many inquiries respecting
it, but all in vain. At length meeting ;
friend whose long residence in Constau
tinople had afforded him the means o
knowing more than could do about it
| asked him if the account Of the res
ervoir was correct,
Expressing an earnest wish to behol'
it, he told me that, with large bribe b.
thought he could obtain me permission
for he was acquainted with an ol,
Turk whose house was said to cover on
of the openings into il. | readily n
greed to give the required Gouceur, AM
he arranged to call the next morning
successful The following morning N,
friend came with the news of his sue
cess. After passing through severa
streets, VIC reached the upper part G
the city, and entered an old lookin
i house. We were received by an age
| Turk, with venerable beard, who's
) dress betokened neither very grea
wealth, nor very great cleanliness. A
/, ter being invited to take coffee and
) pipe, which we accepted--my frien
{ serving as interpreter of tho few word
: of conversation that passed between I
| our host Informed us he was ready
g show us the way to the subterranea
t palace
We proceeded 10 the court of the hous
J. and turning sharp to the right, we're us
cred into small room, the floor
o which was few steps below the surfa'