the capital of the Turkish empire, the Stanboli of the Greeks, or Istanbul of the Turks. An attempt was made to change this latter name into Islambolu, that is, the town of Islam or Mohammedanism, and coins were even struck bearing the new name; but the attempt failed, and the coinage again bears the impression "struck at Istanbul." The entire civil and ecclesiastical authority of the Turkish empire is concentrated in the city, where reside the chief pashas, muftis, and ulemas; the patriarch and synod of the Greek Church; an Armenian and a Catholic archbishop. That part of it which is now occupied by the seraglio, and which is separated from the rest by a wall, is understood to have been the Byzantium of the ancients. See Byzantium.

It is built on a triangular promontory, of which the base is toward Europe, and is bounded by the sea of Marmora on the south-eastern, and the harbour or Golden Horn on the northern side. The seraglio is at the apex of the triangle, and forms the western side of the mouth of the Bosporus, of which the harbour is an extensive inlet. The city stands upon and between seven hills or risings, and was defended on the side of the land by a triple wall from 14 to 20 feet high, beyond which was a ditch 25 feet broad. These defences still remain apparently as left at the conquest of the town. A single wall around the water boundary of the city is still quite visible on the Marmora side, and though concealed Constantinople towards the harbour by buildings on the shore, may yet be easily traced by the square towers which are placed at short distances along it, and of which the number is said to be 548. These walls give evidence of having been constructed in great haste; and the materials of which they are composed seem to have been taken in good part from the valuable remains of antiquity which abounded in the city. An immense number of columnar pieces have been laid as the foundation, for which they were ill-adapted from their roundness; and fragments of architraves and entablatures have been fitted in with their mouldings, inwards or outwards as suited the convenience of the mason. In one or two places the workmen seem to have amused themselves by trying to keep the more ornamental pieces together; and one edifice, described by tourists as the Lion's Fountain, has been ludicrously transferred to the top of the wall, the arch stones which had probably come first to hand having been clumsily stuck together below. Sometimes also an attempt had been made to preserve the inscriptions, some of which may be seen in that part of the wall which defends the palace towards the Marmora, but disjointed and occasionally even inverted. Before these walls were constructed, there seems to have existed an immense breakwater all along the Marmora side of the town. Many of the stones of this breakwater are several tons in weight, and are much waterworn. In many places the wall has been built upon the breakwater, and in some cases the ignorant masons have used the old stones as building material. Those above the sea-level seem as much waterworn as those below, which have been for 500 years exposed to the action of the waves. In the interior of the town the Greeks had constructed extensive subterraneous cisterns: one of these is still in use; and another, celebrated as the Bin bir Direk, or thousand and one columns, is now converted into a receptacle for street sweepings.

The town has extensive suburbs. The largest of these Scutari, called by the Turks Iskudar, is situated on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. The second is the town of Galata on the northern side of the harbour—celebrated for the obstinacy with which it was long held by the Genoese against the Turks. The defence walls of Galata also remain almost as at the date of the conquest, and still bear tablets with the insignia of Genoa. Galata has gradually become the principal seat of mercantile enterprise, which is almost entirely in the hand of Franks and Christian subjects. Two bridges of boats connect Galata with Stanboli. The first of these was built by Sultan Mahmoud, who has let funds to keep it in repair. Originally it was built on logs, but has lately been renewed on copper-sheathed pontoons. The second bridge was constructed by the present Sultan Abdul Medjid, and is maintained in repair by means of a toll of five paras (about one farthing) for each foot passenger. A third bridge has been thrown across the upper part of the harbour by a joint stock company; but from the injudiciousness of the position it has proved a failure.

The almost total absence of roads is compensated by the vast number of caïques which ply for moderate fares on the harbour and the Bosphorus. These again are beginning to be supplanted by small steamers: and a considerable number of large steamers keep up the communication with the more distant parts of the empire. Steamers also sail regularly to Britain, France, Trieste, and Greece.

The gentle undulations on which the town stands, and the great number of whitewashed minarets, give a magnificent appearance to Constantinople as seen from the water, and the view is particularly grand from the opening of the Bosphorus and harbour; but the internal by no means corresponds with the external appearance. The streets are most irregular and badly paved, and the houses are wretchedly built of wood. There are neither names to the one, nor numbers to the other; but the town is divided into separate districts, somewhat like our parishes, allotted to the Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews. The Franks chiefly reside in the suburbs of Pera and Galata. The Turkish districts are the most extensive, and, on account of the yearly diminution of Turkish inhabitants, have often a most dilapidated appearance: they are at once recognised from a distance by the extent of open ground which is often allowed to lie waste around them. The Christian quarters, on the other hand, are closely built and densely peopled, the value of ground being several times that of similar ground in the contiguous Turkish quarter.

Of late years, some little attention has been paid to the keeping of the streets. The vulture, which once was common, has now disappeared, and the number of kites and dogs which live on the offal is rapidly diminishing; yet even now few large towns can compete with the so-called Deri Sazdet (Gate of Felicity) in filthiness and defective drainage. Conflagrations are common, and said, indeed, to be frequently wilful. Thus within fifteen years the whole of Pera has been burned down: the principal part, however, has been rebuilt in stone, and contrasts favourably with Stanboli, on the opposite side of the harbour. In one night, in 1851 or 1852, there were no fewer than seven fires in various parts of the city and suburbs, which consumed an aggregate of some 3500 houses. A new law, ordaining that every house which has been burned or taken down shall be rebuilt one arsheen (30 inches) further from the street than that which it replaces, is making a rapid improvement in the airiness of the streets, but leaves them as crooked as ever.

In the neighbourhood of the seraglio and the government offices is an open space called the At-Medjian (horse place), about 500 feet in length and 300 in breadth, which was the Hippodrome, and in which the game of throwing the jereed was practised by the Turks. Along the centre line of it are placed an Egyptian obelisk, the remains of a small column, composed of three twisted serpents in bronze, and a tall obelisk much decayed. Though much vaunted, the At-Medjian has a very mean appearance; the buildings on the east, north, and west sides are irregular, but the south side is occupied by the magnificent mosque of Sultan Ahmed with its six minarets. Among the mosques, the most celebrated is that of Agia (Aya) Sofia, converted from a Christian church to a Mohammedan jamilh. St Sophia is 260 feet long by 230 broad, and has a large dome supported on marble and granite pillars, of which it is said there are 170 about the building. Some of these, in green jasper, are reported to have been the supports of the temple of Diana at Ephesus. Several other mosques vie in magnitude with St Sophia, or even exceed it; and of smaller ones, there are said to be above a thousand scattered through the town.

The Seraglio is the chief object of curiosity in Constantinople. It is not a single building, but an assemblage of various palaces, mosques, and gardens. In the outer court is the palace of the grand vizier, the exchequer, and the mint, including the church in which Theodosius convened that council distinguished as the second of Constantinople. The mint was fitted up about the year 1844 with improved coining machinery from England, which is worked under the superintendence of British foremen. In the middle court is the divan, where may be seen the celebrated pillar of Theodosius the Great. In the third or inner division of the seraglio is the especial presence-chamber, with the hall of the throne, the treasure apartment, as well as the summer and winter harems, and the library, which is believed to be very rich in manuscripts. The Seraglio is in fact a city of itself, and is said to contain upwards of 6000 inhabitants. The present sultan has never resided in the Seraglio: he passes a short time there on state occasions, but usually lives during winter at the palace of Tshergan on the European side, and in summer at Beylerbey on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. He is building a magnificent palace in stone at Dohma-Baghtshé, on which it is said that above two millions sterling have already been expended, and yet is far from being finished.

As the Turks do not allow a census to be taken, all statements of the number of inhabitants in their dominions must be doubtful and conjectural. Eton calculates the population of Constantinople at no more than 300,000; whilst General Andróssy calculated it, without including Scutari, at 597,600; his calculation being founded on the daily consumption of bread. The number of houses is about 88,100. According to Andróssy the division of the inhabitants is as follows:—300,000 Turks, Tatars, and other Mussulmans; 200,000 Greeks; 50,000 Armenians; 30,000 Jews; and the remainder of the various Frank nations. In 1851, the census of the resident British gave only 200. The mortality is said to be greater than in any other city in Europe; but the recruits that arrive from all parts of the Turkish dominions, and especially the slaves brought for sale, fill up the numbers faster than they fall away by death. Of late years, too, the rayahs seek refuge from the exactions of the provincial pashas in the neighbourhood of the seat of government, where the Tanzimat or new constitution is better observed. Although the public slave market has been shut for a few years, the trade in slaves is still carried on with all its episodes of horror and abomination. The closely latticed windows of the harem of the rich, the prison-like aspect of the better streets, and the caravan of gaunt shoeless Nubian girls in their cotton wrappers, are part and parcel of the odious system.

There are four establishments for education on the European system. The first of these was founded by Sultan Selim at Sudlijeh near the top of the harbour. This establishment has lately been enlarged so as to accommodate about 200 students, of whom two-thirds are intended as military, and the remaining third as civil engineers. A lithographic and copperplate printing office is attached to this school. On the height beyond Pera there is an extensive military school capable of admitting 300 students; and on the island of Heibluk (Khalki) there is a naval school for 200 pupils. In all of these the students are lodged, fed, and clothed by the state, and receive besides a monthly pay regulated according to the rank; but the progress made is insignificant, the systematic corruptness of the examinations paralyzing every exertion. In the centre of Pera there is also the medical school of Galata Serai. Its buildings were burned down about six years ago, and the classes are temporarily transferred to Cumbur-Hana near Sudlijeh. Christians and Jews are admitted to this school along with the Turks, and any progress that is made is almost exclusively confined to these and to the Arab Mussulmans.

In general, each jamih has its attendant school, at which the education consists in the rehearsal of the Koran in ancient Arabic, and the merest elementary reading and counting. There is a second class of schools called rushti, at which a little more progress is made. Above these are the academies of Mohammed the Second and Mustapha the Third, numbering 400 or 500 students, from among the graduates of which the ulemas are taken. An immense building for a university is in progress near the jamih of St Sophia.

By the generosity of the pashas, the viziers, and other wealthy persons, many charitable institutions have been founded. Connected with most of the mosques there is a hospital; with others, a house for the reception of lunatics; and with some, a cooking institution for the poor. There is an orphan house, a Greek and Frank hospital, and four pest-houses for those who have the smallpox.

The trade of Constantinople consists chiefly in the supply of the wants of the state officers, and of the military and naval persons who are attracted to the capital; but it is chiefly by foreigners that the handicraft operations are performed. The principal manufactures are those of cotton and silk goods. The Armenians are the chief jewellers and silver-smiths. The Jews are perfumers, druggists, and brokers; the Franks are the principal mechanics; and the chief business is transacted at the several bazaars.

The foreign trade of Constantinople is favoured by its excellent harbour, capable of containing 1200 ships. It is the medium of intercourse between that part of Asia whence laden camels arrive, and the different divisions of Europe, collecting the drugs and silks of the one, and distributing them among the others. It would require much space to collect and enumerate the ramifications of such a trade as is carried on in minute articles to and from the city of Constantinople. This city is distant 1680 miles from London.

The geographic position of the mosque of St Sophia is Lat. 41. 0. 16. north. Long. 28. 59. 14. east of Greenwich.