

The city was the home of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and guardian of Christendom's holiest relics such as the Crown of thorns and the True Cross.Īerial view of Byzantine Constantinople and the Propontis (Sea of Marmara)Ĭonstantinople was famous for its massive and complex fortifications, which ranked among the most sophisticated defensive architecture of antiquity. The University of Constantinople was founded in the 5th century and contained artistic and literary treasures before it was sacked in 12, including its vast Imperial Library which contained the remnants of the Library of Alexandria and had 100,000 volumes. The city became famous for its architectural masterpieces, such as Hagia Sophia, the cathedral of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which served as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate the sacred Imperial Palace, where the emperors lived the Hippodrome the Golden Gate of the Land Walls and opulent aristocratic palaces.

From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe. Constantinople is generally considered to be the center and the "cradle of Orthodox Christian civilization". On 11 May 330, it was renamed Constantinople and dedicated to Constantine. In 324, after the Western and Eastern Roman Empires were reunited, the ancient city of Byzantium was selected to serve as the new capital of the Roman Empire, and the city was renamed Nova Roma, or 'New Rome', by Emperor Constantine the Great. The city straddles the Bosporus strait, lying in both Europe and Asia. Officially renamed Istanbul in 1930, the city is today the largest city and financial centre of Turkey. Following the Turkish War of Independence, the Turkish capital then moved to Ankara. Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century, Constantinople remained the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire 330–12–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). 1422 AD: Fourth Ottoman siege of ConstantinopleĬonstantinople ( see other names) became the capital of the Roman Empire during the reign of Constantine the Great in 330.1411 AD: Third Ottoman siege of Constantinople.1394–1402 AD: Second Ottoman siege of Constantinople.1391 AD: First Ottoman siege of Constantinople.717–718 AD: Second Arab siege of Constantinople.674–678 AD: First Arab siege of Constantinople.537 AD: Completion of the Hagia Sophia by Justinian I.532 AD: Nika Riots and Fire of Constantinople.404/05-413 AD: Construction of the Theodosian Walls
