Constantinople, Chapter 2 summary

What happens

1. The narrator enters Valletta through Lascaris Gate and observes the varied crowd, market, British policemen, and extensive defenses.
2. He studies the stone houses, projecting balconies, women’s faldettas, and religious images along the streets.
3. He visits the former grand masters’ palace but cannot enter the armor museum because its caretaker has the keys elsewhere.
4. In St. John’s Church, he examines paintings and tombs, and Pradier’s sculpture brings a personal sense of loss.
5. He crosses to Senglea, returns aboard, and watches boys dive for coins before reflecting uneasily on approaching Greece.

In this chapter

What to notice

The sculpture changes sightseeing into personal mourning. The narrator connects the sculptor’s recent death with an older memorial and questions how time matters to the dead.

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