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 237 CHAPTEK XT TOPOGRAPHY OF CONSTANTINOPLE; DISPOSITION OP MAHO- met's forces and cannon ; ESTIMATE of fighting men UNDER EMPEROR ; VENETIANS AND GENOESE : DISPARITY IN NUMBERS : ARMS AND EQUIPMENT : ATTACKS ON THERAPIA AND PRINKIPO. In order to understand these dispositions and the operations Topo- of the siege which had now begun it is necessary to take coMtLSi- account of the topography of the city. Constantinople in nople ' modern times comprises not only Stamboul but the large and even more populous district situated on the northern shore of the Golden Horn. This district was known in mediaeval times as Pera. 1 On the slope of Pera hill towards the Horn the Genoese were in possession of a walled city called Galata. Sometimes this city is described as Galata of Pera. In modern times, however, Pera is the name of the city on the north of the Golden Horn, exclusive of Galata. In 1453 what is now known as Stamboul was the only portion of the present city to which the name Con- stantinople was applied. 2 The city about to be besieged is situated on a peninsula at the south-west extremity of the Bosporus. It is, roughly speaking, an isosceles triangle with its base to landward. One of the sides is bounded by the Marmora and the other by the Golden Horn. It was surrounded by walls, which, with a few short intervals, still remain. On the two sides bounded 1 The Greek irepa = trans, over or beyond. 2 It is usually stated that Stamboul or Istamboul is a corruption of els tV ■tfoKiv, though Dr. Koelle disputes this derivation and considers that it is a mere shortening of the name Constantinople by the Turks, analogous to Skender or Iskender from Alexander. Koelle's Tartar and Turk.