Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
a slight angle to the main road along the Golden Horn. This was the
site of the Gate of the Petrion, one of the portals in the Byzantine
sea-walls. The Petrion itself was a walled enclave on the lower slope of
the Fifth Hill; the portal here being its eastern sea-gate. The Petrion
figured prominently in the assaults upon the sea-walls by the Crusaders
and the Turks. On 13 July 1203, the Venetian galleys under Doge
Dandolo pushed their prows up against the sea-walls of the Petrion
and captured 25 defence towers. The French knight Villehardouin
describes Dandolo in action at that time: “The Doge of Venice, though
an old man [he was nearly ninety] and totally blind, stood at the bow
of his galley with the banner of St. Mark unfurled before him. He
cried out to his men to put him on shore or he would deal with them
as they deserved. They obeyed him promptly, for the galley touched
ground and the men in it leapt ashore, carrying the banner of St. Mark
to land before the Doge.” In the final Crusader assault upon the city
on 12 April 1204, the Petrion was once again the centre of the action.
It was here that two brave knights jumped from the flying-bridge
of the galleon Pelerine onto a defence tower, and from there led the
charge that breached the walls and brought about the capture of the
city. On 29 May 1453, the Petrion withstood a sustained attack by the
Turkish fleet and the defenders surrendered only when they heard that
the land-walls were breached and that the city had fallen. Since it had
been surrendered rather than being taken by assault, Fatih decreed that
the houses and churches in the Petrion be spared in the general sack of
the city. Evliya Çelebi tells us that as a result of their prudent surrender
the fishermen of the Petrion “are even now free from all kinds of
duties and give no tithe to the Inspector of the Fisheries.”
THE GREEK ORTHODOX PATRİARCHATE
Leaving the main road and veering left along Sadrazam Ali Paşa
Caddesi, we soon come to the entrance to the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate. On entering, we notice that the main gate is
permanently welded shut and painted black. This is the famous Orta
Kapı, the Central Gate, which has become almost a symbol of Greek-
Turkish intransigence. For it was here that Gregory V, Patriarch of
Constantinople, was hanged for treason on 22 April 1821.
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