Читать книгу The Antiquities of Constantinople - Gilles Pierre - Страница 8

Constantinople takes up in Compass the whole Peninsula, which contains seven Hills, of which the eastern Angle of the City includes one, having its Rise at the Promontory, which Pliny calls Chrysoceras, and Dionysius a Byzantian, Bosporium. The first Hill is divided from the second by a broad Valley; the Promontory of Bosporium contains the other six, extending itself from the Entrance of the Peninsula on the East, full West with a continued Ridge, but somewhat convex’d, and hangs over the Bay. Six Hills and five Valleys shoot from the right Side of it, and ’tis divided only by the third and fifth Valleys on the left Side of it, which is all upon the Descent, and has only some small Hills and Vales, which are more steep than the Hills themselves. It has also two Windings which take their Rise from the Top of the first Hill, from whence it ascends by Degrees almost to another Winding, which begins from the Top of the third Hill, where sinking into a gentle Descent, it admits the Valley, which lies between the third and the fourth Hill. From thence it rises again with a moderate Ascent, and continues upon a Level westward almost to the Urbicion, where it rises again. The Plains adjoining to the Promontory differ as to their Level. Those that divide the Promontory at the Top, and those at the Foot of it, are very uneven in many Places. The Plain at the Top of the first Hill is seven hundred Paces in Length, and two hundred in Breadth. Shooting hence, it rises almost insensibly to the Top of the second Hill, where ’tis five hundred Paces in Breadth, and is all upon the Descent to the Top of that Hill, where the second Valley, which is also shelving and very narrow, takes its Rise. On the third Hill the Plain is above six hundred Paces in Breadth, but somewhat more upon the Level at the Entrance of the third Valley, which is six hundred Paces broad. From hence you rise by a gentle Ascent to the Plain on the Top of the fourth Hill, which is not above two hundred Paces wide. On the fifth Hill it dilates itself to the Breadth of seven hundred Paces. On the Hill, from whence the fifth Valley takes its Rise, ’tis more narrow; and on the sixth Hill ’tis a little upon the Ascent again. As to the Plain, which extends itself between the Sea and the Bottom of the Promontory, that also is not so even in some Places as it is in others; for it is narrower under the Hills, in the Vales ’tis half as wide again. For winding itself from the Promontory, where it begins, over three Valleys, it is widen’d at that Distance into the Breadth of a thousand Paces, though at the Foot of the Hills it is not above an Acre, or a hundred and twenty Foot in Breadth, except at the Bottom of the third and fifth Hills, where ’tis very narrow, but extends itself over the fourth Valley both in Length and Breadth to a great Degree. At the Foot of the sixth Hill it contracts itself again, except at the Foot of two lesser Hills, situated behind the first and second Hills; one of which projects almost to the Sea, the other is at no great Distance from it. But to describe Constantinople in a more easy and comprehensive Manner, I will give the Reader a particular Account of all its Hills and Vales, which indeed make a very lovely and agreeable Prospect. For the six Hills which shoot from the Promontory, (and which for their Likeness you might call Brothers) stand in so regular an Order, that neither of them intercepts the Prospect of the other; so that as you sail up the Bay, you see them all hanging over it in such a manner, that quite round the City you see before you both Sides of every one of them. The first of these Hills jets out to the East, and bounds the Bay; the second and third lie more inward to the South; the others lie more open to the North, so that at one View you have a full Prospect of them. The first lies lower than the second; the second than the third; the fourth, fifth and sixth are in some Places higher, in others somewhat lower than the third, which you may discover by the Level of the Aqueduct. That the first Hill is lower than the third and fourth, may be discover’d by the Tower which supports the Aqueduct, by which the Water is raised into the Air above fifty Foot high. To make this more intelligible, I will divide the City, as to the Length of it, from the Land’s Point on the Shore of the Bosporus, to the Walls on the Neck of the Isthmus, and consider the Breadth of it, as it widens from the Propontis to the Bay called Ceras. The Reason why I divide the City, as to its Breadth, into six Parts, is the natural Situation of the Promontory, which itself is divided into six Hills, with Valleys running between them. It was no great Difficulty to distinguish the Roman Hills, because they were entirely disjoin’d by Valleys; but ’tis not so easy to distinguish those of Constantinople, because they are conjoin’d at Top; and besides, the Backs of them do not project in so mountainous a manner as they do in the Front; so that I cannot better describe them, than by calling them a continued Ridge of Hills, divided each of them with Valleys. And therefore to proceed regularly, I shall first give the Reader a Description of the right Side of the Promontory, with its Hills and Vales, and then take Notice of the left Side of it, which stands behind them.