Constantinople old and new

In Short

Written by Harrison Griswold Dwight, a long-time resident who returned to Constantinople to record its vanishing character, Constantinople Old and New is a detailed travelogue, historical exploration, and cultural portrait of Istanbul during the tumultuous decade of the early twentieth century. Moving from centuries-old bazaars, Byzantine ruins, and serene Bosphorus gardens to the chaotic streets during the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the Balkan Wars, the book records a city bridging East and West. It has endured as an irreplaceable document because it captures the delicate beauty, complex social tapestry, and profound human suffering of an ancient capital undergoing rapid, irreversible change.

The Story

Dwight opens his chronicle with an admission of its origin: set out to write an impressionistic portrait of daily life in the spirit of W. D. Howells’s Venetian Life, he returns to Constantinople only to find the city caught in the throes of political transformation. Beginning with the tranquil, traditional patterns of local life, he wanders through the ancient quarters near the Golden Horn, tracing the historic markets, the bustle of the fish and vegetable stalls, and the intricate stone handcraft districts housed in multi-tiered hans. He examines the city's unique geography and architectural heritage, from the lingering Byzantine ruins at Blacherne and the mysterious subterranean chambers near the city walls to the splendid Ottoman mosques built by imperial matriarchs and sultans.

As he explores the city's living traditions, Dwight details the intricate social order governed by trade guilds. The watermen, lightermen, and boatmen who navigate the waters of the Bosphorus and Golden Horn maintain centuries-old stations and organizational hierarchies, using traditional skiffs and elegant caïques alongside modern European steamers. The narrative spans both European and Asian shores, surveying waterfront mansions, secluded palace gardens, and sacred burial grounds where life and death mix with informal ease under dark cypresses.

The tone shifts dramatically as historical events intervene. The Ottoman revolution of 1908 and the subsequent deposition of Sultan Abdul Hamid II shatter the ancient rhythms. Dwight records the rapid flight of infamous regime figures, such as the corrupt chamberlain Izzet Pasha, who escapes on a British boat under the eyes of a hostile crowd. The peaceful impressionism of the opening chapters yields to the stark realities of armed conflict. Dwight walks through the streets of Pera during the political turmoil, observing bullet-riddled guard-houses, shattered shuttered storefronts, and stretchers bearing wounded soldiers.

The climax of the book's narrative arc comes with the outbreak of the Balkan Wars, which brings the full horror of collapse directly to the city’s doorstep. Dwight witnesses the overwhelming influx of defeated soldiers and destitute Muslim refugees fleeing destroyed villages across the region. He describes the grim atmosphere at makeshift camps and railway stations, where soldiers succumb to severe winter cold and terrible outbreaks of cholera. Through these scenes of tragedy—dead bodies loaded into tiny omnibuses, crowded mosques turned into emergency shelters, and desperate exiles burning cypress wood from historic cemeteries for heat—Dwight traces the heartbreaking fall of an empire. He closes with an enduring appreciation for the quiet dignity and fatalistic resilience with which the city's inhabitants face their historic humilations.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins The author returns to Constantinople intending to write an impressionistic guide to its daily life, but finds the city transformed by the 1908 revolution and modernizing reforms that threaten its ancient character.

Markets and guildways Exploring the water-front markets and ancient stone hans near Yeni Jami, the narrative details the daily trade of fish, produce, and metalwork organized by old watermen guilds and traditional merchant networks.

Palaces and sacred spaces Dwight examines the architectural heritage of the city, tracing the history of imperial mosques built by influential empress mothers and exploring Byzantine subterranean passages near the ancient walls of Blacherne.

Life along the Bosphorus Moving along the Asian and European shores, the author describes life in the waterfront villages, quiet palace gardens filled with cypresses, and romantic hilltop cemeteries where locals gather casually among historic gravestones.

Revolution and escape Political upheaval strikes the city as the old regime falls; the author records the dramatic escape of corrupt court officials like Izzet Pasha and walks through street battlegrounds marked by shattered windows and gunfire.

The shadow of war The onset of the Balkan Wars shatters imperial confidence, bringing thousands of defeated soldiers and destitute refugees into the city while disease and severe winter conditions turn streets and railway stations into grounds of tragic suffering.

The People

Kyössem (Mahpeïker) The legendary seventeenth-century empress mother, originally named Moon Face, rose from a young slave to become the most powerful woman in the empire under her husband and sons. Seeking to retain her supreme political authority during her grandson's reign, her ambitions stoked palace rivalries that ultimately led to her assassination at age eighty inside the Seraglio.

Tar’han (Hadijeh) The young Russian rival to Kyössem and mother to the child-sultan Mehmed IV, she successfully challenged the older valideh's unprecedented hold on power. Following Kyössem's death, she assumed the elevated title of empress mother and completed the grand Yeni Jami mosque, securing her own place of honor beneath its central dome.

Halim Pasha Brother to the prodigal Khedive Ismaïl, this Egyptian prince lived in disinheritance along the Bosphorus after Ottoman succession laws were altered. Deprived of his birthright and later financially ruined by a foreign speculator, he spent his days in a quiet house constructed with imported Nile mud, enjoying a tranquil bluff framed by cypresses and ancient olive trees.

Izzet Pasha The notorious Syrian-born first chamberlain to the Sultan, he accumulated immense wealth through widespread corruption and extortion. Faced with the 1908 revolution, he outsmarted initial naval blockades through shrewd financial tricks and fled the country on a British-flagged vessel with his family, escaping the wrath of the revolutionary crowd.

In Its Own Voice

"The first chapter to be written was the one called 'A Turkish Village.' Since it was originally put on paper, a few weeks before the revolution, the village it describes has been so ravaged by a well-meaning but unilluminated desire of 'progress' that I now find it impossible to bring the chapter up to date without rewriting it in a very different key."

Context: Dwight reflects in his introduction on how sudden political developments altered his initial plans for a tranquil portrait of the city, turning his work into a vital historical record of a vanishing world.

"The whole place is interfused with that intimacy of life and death, the sense of which makes the Asiatic so much more mature than the European."

Context: Observing the unpaved, irregular gravestones scattered among wild flowers near a castle wall where children play and goats graze, Dwight contemplates the philosophical differences between Eastern and Western attitudes toward mortality.

"And to have been beaten by the serfs of yesterday! But I, for one, have hardly yet the heart to say they deserved it."

Context: The author describes the devastating psychological impact on the Turkish population as news of crushing military defeats in the Balkan Wars reached the capital.

What It's Really About

Constantinople Old and New goes beyond standard travel literature to explore the tension between traditional heritage and aggressive modern progress. At its heart, the book investigates how complex, multi-ethnic societies handle existential decay and sudden political shift. Dwight focuses on the clash between Western notions of efficiency and the Eastern philosophy of fatalistic acceptance, arguing that well-intentioned modernization often destroys unique cultural ecosystems without offering meaningful replacements.

The text also wrestles with Western prejudice toward the Orient. Dwight deliberately chooses to highlight the aesthetic beauty, historic depth, and quiet dignity of Turkish life to counter Western condescension. Through his descriptions of physical spaces—where ancient Byzantine masonry sits beneath Ottoman houses—the book argues that Constantinople is defined not by a single dominant culture, but by layers of historical memory, varied religious calendars, and intermingled populations living side by side.

Why Read It Today

This book will appeal to readers who appreciate deeply observant travel writing, urban history, and nuanced cultural studies. Dwight writes with prose that is clear, expressive, and rich in physical detail, avoiding exoticism or exaggerated melodrama. He brings a painterly eye to the city's topography, capturing the precise quality of light on the Bosphorus, the fragrance of resinous woods in neglected burial grounds, and the vibrant chaos of temporary street markets.

The text presents very few reading hurdles, though modern readers should be prepared for its sheer descriptive density and occasional reliance on period terminology, untranslated regional titles, and historical references to long-forgotten diplomatic crises. Furthermore, the book candidly documents the heartbreaking realities of war, cholera outbreaks, and political violence without sanitizing the human misery involved. What remains with the reader is a poignant, unforgettable record of an imperial crossroads captured at an exact moment of profound transformation, written by an observer who viewed its people and traditions with deep empathy and respect.