The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-12-31

| COnstantinople has been besieged often
er than any other city in the world
Since its foundation by Constantine the
Great. go A. D., it has been threatened
by Persians. Arabs. Russians, Hunga-
rians. Germans. Greeks. Austrians. Turks,
and English. but only captivating four
times in the course OF its history The
last time it surrendered to the Turks
under Mohammed in 1855.
Since then the city has made very
little civic progress. The streets. for the
most part. are narrow and tortuous. and
the shops remain primitive, being little
more than reCessss in the walls of the
houses. The Turkish cafes. too. though
they are palaces Of luxury in fiction. are
! bare. whitewashCd rooms, lighted by
swinging lamps and surrounded with
| straw-Covered divans. where side by side
! the beggar and the man of wealth sit
! and smoke.
The old walls OF ByGantium still stand
| They bear the marks of the work of
many hands and represent many different
cpOchs. At regular intervals of about
15O feet the walls are strengthened with
towers. on which may still he deciphered
many quaint inscriptions. one apparently
prayer to Christ.
The city is built on seven hills. on
mosquo) Of St Sophia. the most inter-
esting building in the city. The exterior
OF the mosque is ugly and dispropor-
tionate. The effect of its great size is
spoiled 10y its lack OF symmetry. But
the interior. with its lofty dome and the
bold sweep of its arches. cannot fail
to impress the visitor. whose eyes are
dazzled almost by the riot OF color used
in the decoration. The dome is $50 feet
conference, the rim being relieved by
forty windows.
The first stone of the mosque was laid
So A. D., on a site where several sue
cessive churches OF the same name had
stood Ten thousand workmen, under a
hundred master builders. were employed
upon it and $4,000 was spent on its
construction alone. 1t is composed, for
the most part, OF brick, but is lined with
costly marble
The dome is built largely Of pumice
stone to render 1t as light as possible
and to secure the building from the raw
ages of fire. There is no wood used
in its construction except the doors.
Not long after its completion the dome
was injured by an earthquake. but It
was restored. and except for few I'M
important additions and restorations, the
building is that which was begun nearly
400 years ago.
On the second hill stands the Burnt
Column of Constantine the Great, under
which are said to be buried the imple-
ments Of the CrucifXiOn. while on a third
hill is a fire tower. from which a basket
by day or a lantern by night is suspended |
10 warn the highly efficient fire brigade |
of conflagration in that part of the city. |
The Great Tower of Galata also Is used |
as a fire toweE 1t was built the end |
OF the fifth century and communicated |
with another tower. long ago destroyed. |
which used to stand near the present site |
of the railway terminus at Stamboul. |
1t was Joined to this tower, in time of war, |
by an iron chain laid across the Golden !
Horn, to prevent the passage Of the enc |
mics ships.
In spite of the earthquakes and fires and |
bombardments.. COnstantinople |
has still very many ancient buildings and !
ruins, some OF the most interesting of |
which are a number of huge cisterns con-
structed in the time of Constantine, or
earlier which are said to have held suffi-
cient water for a million men during four
But the greater part of Constantinople
Is buried. and underground stretch laby-
-inths of passages. cisterns, prisons. and
palaces, so that the pedestrian in mod
ern Constantinople may be said to H.
walking on the roofs of the ancient city.
The confusion which has arisen in re-
gard to understanding the exact where
ibouts and pronouncing properly the
names of the places that figure in the
Iccounts of the Balkan war is quite ex-
.usable, for they are rather perplexing.
)ne reason Ii that In a number Of cases !.