Baudolino dozes off while looking at the griffons, one of which…flies off the tent’s cover and, after circling the courtyard, lowers itself by Baudolino who gets on its back. They fly over the Nile, desert land, the shore of Mediterranean, then inland. Baudolino rejoices at the sight of a fortress with tall towers and minarets, and shouts at the griffon, “Down, down to Jerusalem!” The big, golden statue of the angel defending the city morphs into an Archangel who flies up towards Baudolino and the griffon. She is Hypatia who, clad in a heavy armor and graciously flapping enormous wings, asks Baudolino: “Why do you want to see the things of heaven when you do not understand the things of earth? Go to Constantinople to learn.”
The griffon flies on and approaches Constantinople, aflame under the attack of the Venetian ships and Christian crusaders. The griffon circles the walls of the city while Baudolino, horrified, looks down at the fierce fighting.