When Benjamin of Tudela reaches Constantinople, his writing slows down, becoming much fuller, more focused, and more detailed than earlier parts of his journey (which read more like quick notations). Instead of quickly listing towns and Jewish populations, he devotes pages to describing the size, wealth, and life of the Byzantine capital.

Benjamin tells us that Constantinople is eighteen miles around, half surrounded by the sea and half by land. He presents it as one of the major busy centers of worldwide commerce, where merchants arrive from places as far away as Babylon, Persia, Egypt, Russia, Spain, and Lombardy. He compares it to Baghdad, saying both cities are unmatched in trade and wealth.

He pays special attention to Hagia Sophia, which he calls Santa Sophia. He describes its golden pillars, decadent lamps, and various other treasures brought in as tribute from across the empire. As in other cities, Benjamin records the Jewish community. He writes that about 2,000 Jews live in Constantinople, led by R. Samuel, who is appointed by the emperor, along with other leaders like R. Sabbattai, R. Elijah, and R. Michael. He notes, however, that they are oppressed and that many of them work as silk weavers.

Benjamin’s account of Constantinople shows how he balances two kinds of writing: the catalog of marvels intended to impress, and also the careful documentation of Jewish life that is his true interest.  For him, the city is important because it contains a large Jewish community, complete with leaders recognized by the emperor himself.

What stands out in this account is the contrast Benjamin sets up between the immense wealth of the city and the paradoxical condition of its Jews. While Constantinople is filled with riches, he makes sure to mention that Jews there are oppressed. his account illustrates well that while on the one hand, Constantinople is the greatest city of Christendom, filled with splendor; on the other, Jewish life there is more restricted than in some of the smaller Greek towns he passed through, where Jews owned land or thrived as artisans.

This focus on the suffering of Jews in such a marvelous place tells us something about Benjamin’s purpose in writing this account. His audience was most likely Jewish readers across the Mediterranean who wanted to know where their fellow Jews lived, how many there were, and what kind of life they had. His long description of Constantinople is not intended only to impress them with Byzantine wealth, but also to give them a sense of where Jews stood within this imperial capital. The names of rabbis, the number of Jews, their occupations, and even whether they were oppressed or not — all of these details build a kind of map of the Jewish diaspora.

Benjamin also seems aware of the rival powers of his day. By comparing Constantinople to Baghdad, he places the two great capitals — one Christian, one Muslim — on equal footing. This comparison may have been deliberate, showing his readers that Jewish communities could be found in both worlds, even in the greatest cities of each.