Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/281

CONSTANTINOPLE Pera was until the fire of 1870 the principal seat of the Christian higher classes and of the foreign ministers, and contained churches for the principal Christian denominations, several theatres and concert rooms, four hospitals (English, French, Italian, and German), three post offices (Austrian, French, and Greek), French, German, Greek, and Armenian schools, and a new French college. Gas was intro- duced in 1858, and telegraphic communication with London completed in the same year. Ga- lata, built by the Genoese, is still enclosed by the old Genoese wall and moat, about 8,000 ft. in circumference. In the centre of the town stands an old round tower, originally intended as a work of defence, but now only used as a watch tower. It is 140 ft. in height, and from its top the finest view of Constantinople and its vicinity can be obtained. Galata is the prin- cipal commercial suburb of Constantinople. It is incessantly thronged by a busy crowd of mer- chants, clerks, carriers, seamen, &c. A mer- chants' exchange, the customs office, and an Austrian and an English marine hospital are among the prominent buildings. Tophana de- rives its importance from the large govern- ment founderies, the cannon made at which are equal to the best of European manufacture. The red and gilt Turkish clay pipes are also manufactured there on an extensive scale. Kasim Pasha contains the great arsenal and navy yard. Scutari is situated on the opposite Asiatic coast, on the site of the ancient Chry- sopolis. An immense number of Icailcs (small boats) keep up the communication between it and Constantinople. A large business in silk and cotton goods, leather, &c., is carried on there. It contains a great number of khans and ware- houses, also a Turkish post office, an imperial palace, and the barracks of the imperial guards. Constantinople had greatly improved after the conflagrations of 1865 and 1866, when the greater part of Pera was again destroyed by fire, June 5, 1870. A new quarter has since sprung up near the tower of Galata, and the arsenal, which is rapidly filling up with fine buildings, bids fair to eclipse the former ad- vantages of Pera. In place of the old wooden bridge between Stambul and Pera, there is now a new iron floating bridge ; while the irksome communication between Pera and Galata, through crooked and steep streets, which made driving impossible and even ri- ding difficult, has been superseded by a pneu- matic tunnelled railway; and the great in- convenience to commerce from the absence of good landing places is to be remedied by the establishment of quays on both sides of the harbor. Horse cars run in different parts of the city and the suburbs. The railway to Adrianople was opened in March, 1873, and other railways are in course of construction. The oriental characteristics of the city are, however, not essentially altered by these in- novations. Camels, hamals (porters), ara- bas (clumsy Turkish carriages), dervishes, tur- CONSTANTINOPLE (COUNCIL) 277 baned orientals of all descriptions, and veiled women still throng the streets as of old ; the bazaars are still picturesque and bustling. The number of foreigners is however increasing, especially the English and Germans. Since the great tire of Pera the neighboring villages have gained in population, especially Therapia and Buyukdere. Constantinople is the seat of important banking and commercial establish- ments, and is the great centre of Levantine commerce. In 1870 the number of arrivals was 24,055 sailing vessels, with a tonnage of 5,042,009, and 1,322 steamers, tonnage 1,322,- 926; the total arrivals in 1871 were 25,686 vessels, tonnage 5,483,818. The local industry, however, is unimportant. The principal arti- cles of manufacture are leather ware, carpets, embroideries in gold, silver, and wool, arms, perfumes, and smoking apparatus of all kinds. In 1873 there were published in Constanti- nople 19 newspapers issued daily; of these 5 were in Turkish, 5 in Armenian, 4 in French, 3 in Greek, and 2 in English. Besides these there were 34 periodicals in different languages issued tri-weekly, weekly, and at longer inter- vals. We have already described the origin and the history of this city down to A. D. 330, when Byzantium became Constantinople. (See BYZANTIUM.) Afterward it was the capital of the Roman, or from 395 the Byzantine empire, and of the ephemeral Latin empire (1204-'61). In A. D. 413 an earthquake destroyed it, when it was rebuilt by Theodosius II. Its size and population under the Byzantine emperors may be judged from the fact that once, in the 8th century, 300,000 of its inhabitants fell victims to a pestilence. In the middle ages Constanti- nople stood a large number of sieges or assaults by Saracens, Bulgarians, Russians, Turks, and others. (See BYZANTINE EMPIRE.) On May 29, 1453, it was stormed by the Turks, the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XIII., losing his life in the defence, and since that time it has remained in their possession undisturbed. CONSTANTINOPLE, Councils of. I. The second general council of the church, convened in 381 by the emperor Theodosius, at the instance of Pope St. Damasus, who approved its acts in a council held in Rome in 382. There were present 150 bishops, all belonging to the east- ern churches ; the chief object of the convoca- tion being to settle the difficulties consequent upon the long domination of the Arians. The council confirmed the election of St. Gregory Nazianzen, who before the accession of Theo- dosius had been called to govern the church of Constantinople; and at the same time it deposed the intruder Maximus Cynicus. The acts of this council, besides the reaffirmation of the faith of Nice and the condemnation of the Macedonian and other heresies, were chiefly directed toward regulating the government and discipline of the eastern churches, and prescribing proper forms for the readmission of heretics. II. The fifth general council, con- vened in 553 by the emperor Justinian, for the