BYZANTINE CONSTANTINOPLE.

A horizontal rule with a small diamond ornament in the center.

CHAPTER I.

THE SITE OF CONSTANTINOPLE—THE LIMITS OF BYZANTIUM.

WITHOUT attempting any elaborate description of the site occupied by Constantinople, such as we have in Gyllius’ valuable work on the topography of the city,¹ it is necessary to indicate to the reader, now invited to wander among the ruins of New Rome, the most salient features of the territory he is to explore.

The city is situated at the south-western end of the Bosporus, upon a promontory that shoots out from the European shore of the straits, with its apex upstream, as though to stem the waters that rush from the Black Sea into the Sea of Marmora. To the north, the narrow bay of the Golden Horn runs inland, between steep banks, for some six or seven miles, and forms one of the finest harbours in the world. The Sea of Marmora spreads southwards like a lake, its Asiatic coast bounded by hills and mountains, and fringed with islands. Upon the shore of Asia, facing the eastern side

¹ Petrus Gyllius, De Topographia Constantinopoleos et De illius Antiquitatibus, book i. ch. 4–18.