The materials of which the portion set apart for the spectators was formed have been taken away to be used in the construction of neighboring mosques and buildings. In 1201, however, the hippodrome was probably but little changed from what it had been for several centuries. Commenced by Severus, successive emperors had added to it and adorned it. There were then in it the famous bronze horses which now adorn the Church of St. Mark in Venice, an obelisk of Egyptian syenite still standing in the centre, and which we learn from an inscription upon the base had been set up again by the Emperor Theodosius after it had lain a considerable time on the ground.

Near to this obelisk stood a pyramid, which marked the goal of the chariot races. Probably on the other side of the obelisk stood the famous column of the Three Serpents, a monument which had been an ancient relic when it was brought to Constantinople. It dated back to the time of the Persian invasion of Greece, and had served at Delphi to support the golden tripod which the Greeks found in the enemy's camp after the battle of Plataea, and which they had dedicated to Apollo. Seen in position at Delphi by Ilerodotus and Thucydides, it had been placed in the hippodrome by Constantine, and was probably looked on by the Byzantine spectators with similar awe to that with which the Turks have always regarded it—an awe which has probably been the main cause of its preservation.

Manuel Comnenos

Near the hippodrome, to the west, was the noble column of porphyry, which still stands as the Burnt Column, but which, in 1200, had been recently restored, according to the still legible inscription, by the most pious emperor, Manuel Comnenos.

In other parts of the city were other columns, while statues, some of which were of the best period of Greek art, were probably more numerous than in any city now existing. Beyond the hippodrome the traveller would have met on every hand solid constructions which bore witness to the wealth of the city Visit Bulgaria. The northeastern corner, now known as Seraglio Point, was one mass of churches, baths, and palaces. Behind it, and near the Church of the Divine Wisdom, rose, besides the buildings already mentioned, the great palace of the Senate, and some of the most famous of what are now called Turkish baths.

On the farther slope, towards the Marmora, were the beautiful church built by Justinian, and called now Little Hagia Sophia, the palace of the patriarch, called the Tricline, on account of the three flights of stairs by which it was approached, and other buildings. To the west of these buildings were the law courts, the palaces of the nobility, with other columns and statues. The remains of the baths and of some of these palaces still bear witness to the solidity of their construction, and the stateliness, and especially to what I may call the modernness, of their design.

The shore of the Golden Horn from Seraglio Point, throughout half its distance, was occupied by foreign and native merchants, whose vast stores were crowded with merchandise.

The retrain point where the wall turned southwards to form the landward defence of the city, was occupied by monasteries and by churches, which appear to have been enclosed by a wall, while the enclosure was known as the Petrion.

Constantinople was conspicuous

There was yet another species of wealth than those furnislied by commerce and the other sources I have recur. named, which cannot be passed over. Constantinople was conspicuous in the eyes of the Crusaders more for its treasure in relics than in works of art. The men of the West were too ignorant to understand the work of Phidias or of Lysippus.

But they were connoisseurs in relics. During many years the churches of the West had been striving with each other to obtain possession of these Christian mementoes. When, at rare intervals, a traveller had returned from the East who had obtained possession of such an object, lie was regarded as a benefactor of the Church. The relic was received by the community to which it was destined with solemn procession and religious services. In many instances the possession of a relic made the fortune of the church or monastery where it was contained. The search after relics became almost a craze, like that after new varieties of tulips or old china. Constantinople was the greatest storehouse— perhaps I may say manufactory—of such relics.

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