Returning from Alexandria the oft-mentioned Arculf lodged in the
island of Crete for some days, and sailed from there for Constantinople,
where he stayed for some months. This is assuredly the metropolis of
the Roman Empire, and it is surrounded everywhere by the sea except
on its northern side. The sea in question, an inlet from the great sea,
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stretches for 60 miles right up to the wall of the city. And from the wall
of Constantinople as far as the mouth of the river Danube is a further
stretch of 40 miles by the same sea. A considerable circuit of walls,
12 miles in extent, surrounds this imperial city, with angles constructed
to follow the line of the sea coast, like Alexandria or Carthage. Moreover,
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as in Tyre, the walls are strengthened with several towers, and there are
numerous dwelling houses within the city walls, of which many are in
stone and arise in wondrous magnitude like the houses in Rome.