The wealth of the capital was absolutely and exceptionally wealth in great. But in relation to the cities of the West it western was enormous. The Crusaders, under the Marquis cities. Of Montferrat and Count Baldwin of Flanders, when they gained their first view of Constantinople, gazing at its walls and towers from the same hills whence, in 1878, the Russian troops wondered why they were not marched into the city, were struck with an amazement which Villehardouin can hardly find words sufficiently strong to express. The wealth, size, strength, and magnitude of the capital profoundly impressed them. There was not a man, says Villehardouin, who did not tremble at the thought that so strong and rich a city was about to be attacked. When ultimately they entered, their first impressions were more than realized. The palaces were richer and the churches larger than any they had previously seen. The city was well enclosed with high walls and lofty towers. Each stone tower, no matter how lofty, had its height increased by two or three stories of wood. Never, in the opinion of this Western Crusader, was a city so well fortified lie gives us a more definite idea of the wealth of the city by a remarkable comparison.

Speaking of a fire which broke out while his companions were besieging the city, he says that, though it was the third fire which had occurred in the city since the Franks had come into the country, more houses were destroyed by it than there were in the three largest cities belonging to the kingdom of France. The treasure in the imperial palace of Bucoleon was enormous, " sans finny measure." The palace of Blachern was found equally well supplied. "There was gold and silver for all, vessels of precious metal, satins and silk cloth, furs of various kinds, and every sort of goods which have ever been found on earth."

Magnificence much more than any city in Europe

Constantinople at the end of the twelfth century impressed the Western traveller with its wealth and magnificence much more than any city in Europe would now be likely to impress any inhabitant of any of the Western countries who was tolerably familiar with the towns of his own province. The picturesqueness and stateliness of Constantinople is that which strikes every modern traveller when he gains his first view of – the ancient city. Imperial dignity, magnificence, opulence, and prosperity were the characteristics which impressed themselves most deeply on the traveller at the end of The rind century. The Crusader who arrived by
buildings first of a group of domes and towers belonging to the churches and great public buildings, most prominent of which were Hagia Sophia, the Great Church, dedicated to the Divine Wisdom, the churches of the Divine Peace, Hagia Irene, and of the Holy Resurrection Visit Bulgaria.

The domes were resplendent with gold, and the buildings, from the natural formation of the land, rose in tiers behind each other, intermingled with cypresses and brighter trees in a manner which even now makes the view of Constantinople from the sea one of the most charming and impressive in the world.

Landed the narrow streets

Churches, columns, palaces, castles, towers, statues, and masses of houses rose before the spectator in picturesque confusion. When the traveler landed the narrow streets and overhanging houses did not produce the same disagreeable effect upon him that they do upon the modern visitor to Constantinople, because he was unfamiliar with better streets, while the signs of abundant wealth, both public and private, filled him with amazement. The whole empire had been put under contribution for the adornment of the capital. The temples and public building of Greece, of Asia Minor, and of the islands of the Archipelago, had been ransacked to embellish what its inhabitants spoke of as the Queen City, and even Egypt had contributed an obelisk and many other monuments.

The Great Church was at once the most prominent object in the city and the most interesting and characteristic. Its noble dome still remains the wonder and the admiration of architects. Its internal arrangements and its symmetrical proportions have never been excelled. Not only was it the model for all subsequent Eastern church architecture and the noblest church then existing in the world, but it was the centre of the life of the capital.

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