130 CHRISTIAN GREECE AND LIVING GREEK. soldier, sought and found the death of a hero. The Turks for a long time massacred the Byzan- tine soldiers until, convinced of the numerical weakness of their adversaries, they stayed the slaughter in order to commence plundering. A most mournful fate befell the many thou- sands of both sexes, of all ages, of all ranks of society, who from six to seven in the morning, since the first fatal news had been spread in the city, had fled into the church of St. Sophia. The victors broke in the doors with axes, violated boys and virgins, broke and soiled the sacred vessels, ate and drank, fed their horses, and com- menced to destroy the beauty of the marvellous edifice. The corpse of the Emperor Constantine was searched for and recognized. The Sultan or- dered its head cut off and exposed on the point of a lance until evening. The trunk was per- mitted to be interred with imperial honors. Near the Wifa Mosque, covered by a stone with- out inscription under a laurel tree, is the tomb of the noble hero; above it a simple lamp, sup- plied with oil, is lit every evening.
