The New International Encyclopædia/Constantinople
CONSTANTINO′PLE (Lat. Constantinopolis, from Gk. Κονσταντίνον πόλις, Konstantinoupolis, city of Constantine, Turk. Istambul or Stambul, from Gk. εἰς τὴν Πόλιν, eis tēn polin, or, in the corrupted dialect of the people, ἐς τὰμ βόλιν, es tam bolin, to the city). The capital and largest city of the Ottoman Empire, situated in the extreme southeastern part of European Turkey, on the shores of the Sea of Marmora, the Bosporus, and the Golden Horn, a long, narrow inlet, extending in a northwestern direction from the Bosporus; latitude 41° N., longitude 28° 59′ E. (Map: Turkey in Europe, G 4). With its many mosques, kiosks, and extensive gardens, it presents from the sea a magnificent appearance, which is greatly enhanced by the imposing picturesqueness of the situation. Constantinople proper, or Stambul, occupies a triangular peninsula. The suburbs of Galata and Pera are situated on the northern and opposite shore of the Golden Horn, which is spanned by two iron pontoon bridges. Stambul is surrounded by partly ruined walls, the most famous of which is the Theodosian double wall dating from 447. The fortifications have strong towers, and are pierced by numerous historic gates. The streets are narrow, crooked, and without sidewalks. There are countless house-gardens and many beautiful cemeteries. The houses, usually of one story, are mostly built of wood, though some portions of the city, since the great fires of 1865, 1866, and 1870, have been reconstructed in a modern fireproof style. Many fine public buildings have latterly been erected; new suburbs have been built, and old ones enlarged and improved. On the whole, however, the rate of growth and the extent and character of the improvements of the city are surpassed in nearly every other European capital.
The architectural beauty of Constantinople itself lies conspicuously in its mosques, 379 in number, among which that of Agia Sofia (originally the Church of Saint Sophia) is most famous. The present edifice, 250 by 235 feet in size, was begun in 532 by Justinian, and was completed in five years. It is constructed of brick, faced with marble. Its shape is that of a cross. While its outward appearance is not in keeping with the grandeur and charm of its interior, it is regarded as one of the most magnificent of ecclesiastical edifices. The dome in the centre rises 180 feet high (from the ground), and is 108 feet in diameter. It is supported by four arches. Within the mosque are 107 pillars of gigantic proportions—40 on the ground floor and 67 above. They are of green marble and red porphyry, with capitals in the Byzantine style. The walls were originally decorated with beautiful mosaics, which have been either partly effaced or partly covered up with inscriptions from the Koran. After the conversion of the church into a mosque by Mohammed II., in 1453, four minarets were added, and the golden cross on the dome was replaced by the crescent.
The Mosque of Solyman covers a site nearly as large as that of Saint Sophia, and, like most mosques, is surrounded by a well-shaded court. It was built in 1550–66, by the Sultan Solyman. It has four minarets, and is surmounted by a dome somewhat higher than that of Saint Sophia. The marble decorations in the interior are magnificent. The Mosque of Achmet I. was built in 1609–14, and exceeds in dimensions the Mosque of Solyman, but is inferior to the latter in design and in ornamentation. Among other mosques may be mentioned those of Mohammed II., Bajazet II., Selim I., Yani-Jami, and Mur-i-Osmani.
Secular buildings of historic interest are: The Castle of the Seven Towers, once a State prison where a number of dethroned sultans were executed; the hippodrome, completed by Constantine, the scene of public festivals as well as of popular uprisings; and the old Seraglio, with its extensive gardens and beautiful kiosks and palaces. There are also interesting ruins of ancient royal palaces. The present abode of the Sultan, the Serai Humayun, is in reality a little city whose walls inclose mosques, administrative buildings, dwelling-houses and gardens. It is over a mile and a half in circumference. In royal grandeur, however, it does not equal the residences of many other European rulers. Its outer gate is called ‘The Sublime Porte.’
The bazaars of Constantinople are very numerous. The chief of them, the Grand Bazaar, somewhat injured by an earthquake in 1894, occupies a large number of narrow, vaulted alleys, and contains about 3000 shops. It is filled with merchandise of great variety and beauty, and presents in daytime one of the finest sights of the city. The bazaars, however, are gradually losing their importance, the wealthier classes preferring to make their purchases in the French shops on the Grande Rue in Pera.
Galata, situated on the eastern shore of the Golden Horn, is the business port of Constantinople. Here are found the warehouses, banking houses, exchanges, and the custom-house. The town is built of stone, and the streets in some sections are new and regular. The Galata Tower, formerly known as the Tower of Christ, is 150 feet high, and is divided into several stories and surrounded by galleries. It serves as a fire signal station.
Pera, the foreigners’ quarter and the most modern part of Constantinople, lies beyond Galata. Here are the foreign embassies and the residences of the Europeans. Here also is the Grande Rue, lined with fashionable shops and hotels. Pera has a fine park, barracks, and several cemeteries which are occasionally used as festival grounds.
Administration.—As to government, Constantinople, including the town of Scutari across the Bosporus, forms a separate district, under the administration of a prefect. It is probably the only city in Turkey where the police force is not recruited from the regular army. The fire department is utterly inadequate, and the system of alarms used is most primitive. Systematic street-cleaning is attempted only in the European section of the city. In the native quarters the dogs are the principal scavengers. The water-works of Constantinople, dating in part from the reigns of Justinian and Valens, are regarded among the finest remaining specimens of ancient engineering. Some of the cisterns are the largest in the world; the roof of one of them is supported by 336 marble columns. The water comes from the reservoirs of Belgrade, and also from Lake Berkos, the latter source of supply being exploited by a French company.
The numerous elementary public schools are attached to the mosques and offer instruction free. Colleges, or ‘medresses,’ some 150 in number, with public libraries, are found in connection with the principal places of worship. A university was opened in 1900, with faculties of philosophy, Mussulman theology, mathematics, law, and medicine. The Imperial Art School is not without importance. The French conduct several schools for the children of the wealthier classes. Many of the libraries are filled with valuable volumes and manuscripts. Within the inclosure of the Seraglio is the Royal Museum of Antiquities, containing a fine collection of curious tombstones, sarcophagi, Turkish art objects, natural-history specimens, etc. The benevolent institutions are to be counted by the score; indeed, almost every craft has a benevolent guild.
The industrial importance of Constantinople is not great. The few large establishments manufacture tobacco products, fezzes, and iron wares. The hand-made products, on the contrary, are important, both as regards variety and quantity; and to the trade in these small articles the life of the city lends itself most interestingly, with its bustling little shops, its noisy street traffic before the mosques, and its curious and picturesque trade customs. The geographical position and natural harbor facilities of Constantinople are unsurpassed. The Golden Horn affords accommodation for over 1000 vessels of the heaviest draught. It is divided by its two bridges into the outer and inner ports of trade, and the port of war. Not until 1888 did the city have railway connection with the rest of the world.
Since the establishment of direct steam communication between Persia, Syria, Arabia, and Southern Europe, and the opening up of Central Asia by Russia, Constantinople has lost a considerable part of its commerce. Important imports are food products, textiles, coal, metalware, instruments and implements of all kinds, petroleum, and wood. The exports are largely confined to carpets and rugs, lambskins and wool, attar of roses, embroideries, and filigree-work. The annual entrances and clearances of shipping comprise about 14,500 vessels, with a tonnage of about 10,500,000. Of these about 11.000 represent foreign trade. The number of Turkish vessels is over 6000, but their total tonnage is comparatively light. For local transportation there are omnibuses, four horse-car lines, and one underground cable road. The Constantinople-Adrianople line has several stations within the city limits. Small steamers and ferries ply between Stambul and Galata.
The population of Constantinople proper numbers about 650,000. This figure is increased to over 1,100,000 by including the suburbs. In the city proper nearly two-thirds of the population are Mohammedans.
History.—In A.D. 330 the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great gave the name Constantinople to the new capital which he had built for himself on the Bosporus round the ancient Byzantium as a nucleus. The presence of the Emperor made Constantinople from the first distinctively the capital of the Greek civilization in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, as Rome remained the head of the Latin civilization in the West. From the final disruption of the Roman Empire in 395 to 1453, the city was the capital of the Byzantine or Eastern Empire. The Patriarch of Constantinople gradually rose to the position of head of the Christian Church in the East. In the course of years, as the Imperial provinces in Asia and Africa, with the great metropolises of Antioch and Alexandria, fell into the hands of the Mohammedans, the Christian culture of the East found refuge in Constantinople, and Byzantinism—a blending of the ideas of Oriental despotism with the Roman conception of the State—found its home there. In the struggle between Latin and Eastern Christianity, Constantinople naturally was the great opponent of Rome, and, as the champion of inflexible orthodoxy, it welcomed the great schism of 1054, which disrupted the Catholic Church. The strategic position of the city at the meeting-place of two continents exposed it to attacks from numerous nations—Avars, Arabs, Bulgars, Varangians, Venetians, and the Latin powers of Western Europe, and finally the Turks. It was besieged more than thirty times, and its walls were repeatedly assaulted; but it was taken thrice only—by the Venetians and Crusaders in 1203 and 1204, and by Mohammed II., after a memorable siege, on May 29, 1453. The prosperity of the city sank during the period of the Crusades, when its lucrative commerce was diverted to the Italian towns. Its capture by the Turks marks an epoch in European history, for the scholars and rhetoricians who fled from Constantinople brought back to Western Europe the knowledge of the ancient Greek literature, and by their contribution to the revival of learning fostered the Renaissance and the Reformation. In more recent times Constantinople has been important as a storm-centre in the play of international politics known as the ‘Eastern Question.’ In 1878 the Russian armies advanced to the fortifications of the city.
Consult: Grosvenor, Constantinople (Boston, 1895); Hutton, Constantinople (London, 1900); Dwight, Constantinople and Its Problems (New York, 1901); Barth, Konstantinopel (Leipzig, 1901).