Map of Constantinople. More detailed map.

Constantinople^[1] is the older and traditional name of the modern city of Istanbul in Turkey. It is located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara. Download high resolution version (800x650, 54 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (800x650, 54 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Shows the Location of the Province Ä°stanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul; contraction of the citys previous Greek name Constantinople, Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ... The Golden Horn from the southern or Constantinople shore, with the skyline of modern Istanbul on the far shore The Golden Horn (in Turkish Haliç, in Greek Khrysokeras or Chrysoceras or Χρυσοκερας) is an estuary dividing the city of Istanbul. ... Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara (Turkish: Marmara Denizi, Modern Greek: Θάλασσα του Μαρμαρά or Προποντίδα) (also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea) is an inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating the Asian part of Turkey from its European part. ...

Name

The name is a reference to its founder, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. He made it a second capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, AD 330, naming the city Nova Roma (New Rome), but that name came little into common use, and it was as the City of Constantine that it lived through the centuries. Constantine. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (132nd in leap years). ... Events May 11 - Constantine I refounds Byzantium, renames it New Rome, and moves the capital of the Roman Empire there from Rome. ... New Rome is a term that can be applied to a city or a country. ...

Byzantium

Constantine was responsible for a re-foundation. The site has been strategically and commercially important from the earliest times, lying as it does astride both the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black or Euxine Sea to the Mediterranean, and being possessed of an excellent and spacious harbour in the Golden Horn. Thus a city was first founded on the site in the early days of Greek colonial expansion, when in 667 BC the legendary Byzas established it with a group of citizens from the town of Megara. This city was named Byzantium. Events Births Deaths Categories: 667 ... Megara (Greek: Μέγαρα) is an ancient city in Attica, Greece, on the Saronic Gulf opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken by Athens. ... Byzantium was the original name of the modern city of Istanbul. ...

Foundation

Constantine had altogether more ambitious plans. Having restored the unity of the empire, and being in course of major governmental reforms as well as of sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church, he was well aware that Rome was an unsatisfactory capital. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the Imperial courts: it offered an undesirable playground for disaffected politicians; and it suffered regularly from flooding and from malaria. Yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it will have seemed unthinkable to suggest that that capital be moved. Nevertheless, he identified the site of Byzantium as the right place: a place where an emperor could sit, readily defended, with easy access to the Danube or the Euphrates frontiers, his court supplied from the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries filled by the wealthiest provinces of the empire. Length 2,888 km Elevation of the source 1,078  m Average discharge 30 km before Passau: 580 m³/s Vienna: 1,900 m³/s Budapest: 2,350 m³/s just before Delta: 6,500  m³/s Area watershed 817,000  km² Origin  Black Forest (Schwarzwald-Baar, Baden- Württemberg... Length 2,800 km Elevation of the source 4,500 m Average discharge 818 m³/s Area watershed 765,831 km² Origin  Eastern Turkey Mouth  Shatt al Arab Basin countries Turkey Syria Iraq Boat on the Shatt-al-Arab The Euphrates (the traditional Greek name for the river, which is...

He built the city, divided it into 14 regions, and ornamented it with great public works. Yet initially Constantinople did not have all the dignities of Rome. It had a proconsul, not a prefect of the city. It had no praetors, tribunes or quaestors. Although it had senators, they held the title clarus, not clarissimus as did those of Rome. Nor did it have the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food-supply, the police, the statues, the temples, the sewers, the aqueducts and other public works. And the building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the empire and removed to the new city, and many of the greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon to be seen in its squares and streets. The emperor stimulated private building by promising to householders lands from the imperial estates in Asiana and Pontica, and on 18 May 332 he announced that, as at Rome, free distributions of food would be made to citizens. At the time the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, given out from 117 distribution points. Asiana Airlines is one of South Koreas two major airlines. ... Pontus was a name applied in ancient times to extensive tracts of country in the northeast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) bordering on the Euxine (Black Sea), which was often called simply Pontos (the Main), by the Greeks. ... May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). ... Events Constantine the Great emperor of the Roman Empire, engaged the Visigoths in battle and was victorious. ...

Public buildings

Constantinople was a Christian city, lying in the most Christianised part of the Empire. Constantine made the temples of Byzantium into ruins, and erected the splendid St Sophia, the Church of the Holy Apostles, and St Irene.

He also laid out the square at the centre of old Byzantium anew, and named it the Augusteum in honour of his mother, Helena. St Sophia lay on the north side of the Augusteum. The new senate-house was in a basilica on the east side. On the south side was the Great Palace of the emperor with its imposing entrance the Chalke and its ceremonial suite known as the Palace of Daphne, near to a great Hippodrome for chariot-races seating over 80,000 spectators, and to the Baths of Zeuxippus (both originally built in the time of Severus). At the entrance at the western end of the Augusteum was the Milestone, a vaulted monument from which distances were measured across the Eastern Empire. Helena can refer to: Saint Helena (Island in the Atlantic Ocean) Helena, mother of Constantine the Great (also known as Helena of Constantinople, a Saint in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christianity) Helena is one of the most renowned songs by the emo rock band My Chemical Romance. ... Emperor Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus, (April 11, 146 - February 4, 211) was Roman emperor from April 9, 193 to 211. ...

From the Augusteum a great street, the Mese, led, lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the Praetorium or law-court. Then it passed through the oval Forum of Constantine where there was a second senate-house, then on and through the Forum of Taurus and then the Forum of Bous, and finally up the Sixth Hill and through to the Golden Gate on the Propontis. The Mese would be seven Roman miles long to the Golden Gate of the walls of Theodosius. The Sea of Marmara (Turkish: Marmara denizi, Modern Greek: Μαρμαρα̃ Θάλασσα or Προποντίδα) (also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea) is an inland sea that separates the Black Sea from the Aegean Sea (thus the Asian part of Turkey from its European part) by Bosporus and...

Constantine erected a high column in the centre of the Forum, on the Second Hill, with a statue of himself at the top, crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking towards the rising sun.

Constantinople in the Divided Empire

The first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople was Honoratus, who took office on 11 December 359 and held it until 361. Valens built the Palace of Hebdomon on the shore of the Propontis near the Golden Gate, probably for use when reviewing troops, and up to Zeno and Basiliscus all the emperors who were elevated at Constantinople were to be crowned and acclaimed at the Hebdomon. Theodosius I founded the church of John the Baptist to house a relic of the saint, put up a memorial pillar to himself in the Forum of Taurus, and turned the ruined temple of Aphrodite into a coachhouse for the Praetorian Prefect; Arcadius built a new forum named after himself on the Mese, near the walls of Constantine. December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Battle of Amida: Shapur II of Persia conquers Amida from the Romans. ... Events Emperor Ai succeeds Emperor Mu as emperor of China. ... Solidus minted by Valens in ca. ... Zeno may refer to: Emperor Zeno of the Byzantines (d. ... Flavius Basiliscus was a rival Byzantine Emperor 475 _ 476. ... Flavius Theodosius (Cauca (modern Coca, Segovia, Spain), January 11, 347 - Milan, January 17, 395), also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great, was a Roman emperor. ... Aphrodite (Αφροδίτη, risen from sea-foam) is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. ... The praetorian prefect was commander of the Praetorian Guard until Constantine abolished it in 314. ... Flavius Arcadius ( 377/ 378– May 1, 408) was Roman Emperor in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire from 395 until his death. ...

Gradually the importance of the city increased. Following the shock of the Battle of Adrianople in 376, when the emperor Valens with the flower of the Roman armies was destroyed by the Goths within a few days' march of the city, Constantinople looked to its defences, and Theodosius II built in 413-414 the 60-foot tall walls which were never to be breached until the coming of gunpowder. Theodosius also founded a University at the Capitolium near the Forum of Taurus, on 27 February 425. The second Battle of Adrianople (August 9, 378) was fought between a Roman army led by the Emperor Valens and Germanic tribes (mainly Visigoths and Ostrogoths, assisted by some non-Germanic Alans) commanded by Fritigern. ... Events Visigoths appear on the Danube and request entry into the Roman Empire in their flight from the Huns Births Cyril of Alexandria, theologian Deaths Categories: 376 ... Solidus minted by Valens in ca. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... Theodosius II Flavius Theodosius II (April, 401 - July 28, 450 ). The eldest son of Eudoxia and Arcadius who at the age of 7 became the Roman Emperor of the East. ... Events May 8 - Honorius signs an edict providing tax relief for the provinces of Italy that have been plundered by the Visigoths. ... Events Ataulf, king of the Visigoths, marries Galla Placidia, the sister of Roman Emperor Honorius. ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events October 23 -Valentinian III becomes western Roman emperor. ...

In the fifth century, when the barbarians overran the western Empire, and its emperors retreated to Ravenna and then failed altogether, Constantinople became in real truth the greatest city of the Empire, and the greatest in the world. Emperors were no longer peripatetic. They remained in their palace in the Great City, and sent generals to command their armies. And the wealth of the Eastern Mediterranean flowed into Constantinople, and was spent there. Ravenna is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, population 134,631 (2001). ...

The City under Justinian

The emperor Justinian (527-565) became known for his successes in war, for his legal reforms and for his public works. It was from Constantinople that his expedition for the reconquest of Africa set sail on or about 21 June 533. Before their departure the ship of the commander, Belisarius, anchored in front of the Imperial palace, and the Patriarch offered prayers for the success of the enterprise. Justinian I depicted on a Byzantine mosaic Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus or Justinian I (May 11, 483–November 13/14, 565), was Eastern Roman Emperor from AD August 1, 527 until his death. ... This article is about the year. ... Events January 22 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and second most populous. ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... Events February 1 - John becomes Pope, succeeding Pope Boniface II, who had died in 532. ... Belisarius, by Jacques-Louis David (1781); the depiction is now believed to be fictionalized. ...

Chariot-racing had been important in Rome for centuries. In Constantinople, the hippodrome became over time increasingly a place of political significance. It was where (as a shadow of the popular elections of old Rome) the people by acclamation showed their approval of a new emperor; and also where they openly criticised the government, or clamoured for the removal of unpopular ministers. In the time of Justinian, public order in Constantinople became a critical political issue. The entire late Roman and early Byzantine period was one where Christianity was resolving fundamental questions of identity, and the dispute between the orthodox and the monophysites became the cause of serious disorder, expressed through allegiance to the horse-racing parties of the Blues and the Greens, and in the form of a major rebellion in the capital of 532 AD, known as the "Nika" riots (from the battle-cry of "Victory!" of those involved). Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ... Monophysitism (from the Greek monos meaning one and physis meaning nature) is the christological position that Christ has only one nature, as opposed to the Chalcedonian position which holds that Christ has two natures, one divine and one human. ... Events January 11 - Nika riots in Constantinople; the cathedral is destroyed. ... The Nika riots (Greek:Στάση του Νίκα), or Nika revolt, took place over the course of a week in Constantinople in 532. ...

Fires started by the Nika rioters consumed the basilica of St Sophia, the city's principal church. Justinian commissioned Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus to replace it with the incomparable St Sophia, the great cathedral of the Orthodox Church, whose dome was said to be held aloft by God alone, and which was directly connected to the palace so that the imperial family could attend services without passing through the streets [St Sophia was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of the city, and is now a museum]. The dedication took place on Christmas Day of 537 AD in the presence of the Emperor, who exclaimed, "Glory be to God who found me worthy of this deed! I have outdone you, Solomon!". Anthemius of Tralles (c. ... Isidore of Miletus was an architect with Anthemius of Tralles of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. ... Hagia Sophia as it appears today The Church of the Holy Wisdom, variously known as Hagia Sophia (Άγια Σοφία) in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin or Ayasofya in Turkish, is a former Greek Orthodox church converted to a mosque, now a museum, in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople. ... Events Pope Silverius deposed by Belisarius at the order of Justinian, who appoints as his successor Pope Vigilius. ... Solomon (Hebrew, Shlomo from Shalom for peace, also Arabic as Suleiman or Sulyaman meaning peace) can mean any of the following: 1. ...

Justinian also had Anthemius and Isidore pull down and replace the Church of the Holy Apostles, built by Constantine, with a new church with the same dedication. This was designed in the form of an equally-armed cross with five domes, and ornamented with beautiful mosaics. This church was to remain the burial place of the emperors from Constantine himself until the eleventh century. When the city fell to the Turks in 1453, the church was demolished to make room for the tomb of Mehmet II the Conqueror. Events May 29 - Fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire). ... Mehmed II Mehmed II (March 30, 1432 – May 3, 1481; nicknamed el-Fatih, the Conqueror) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to 1446, and later from 1451 to 1481. ...

The City after Justinian

Justinian was succeeded in turn by Justin II, Tiberius II and Maurice, able emperors who had to deal with a deteriorating military situation, especially on the eastern frontier. Subsequently there was a period of near-anarchy, which was exploited by the enemies of the Empire. After the Avars came to threaten Constantinople from the west and simultaneously the Persians from the East, Heraclius, the exarch of Africa, set sail for the city and assumed the purple. He found the situation so dire that at first he contemplated moving the imperial capital to Carthage, but with military genius he succeeded in expelling the invaders. No sooner had he carried war into their own territories, however, and achieved an advantageous peace with Persia, than he was faced with the Arab expansion. Constantinople was besieged twice by the Arabs, once in a long blockade between 674 and 678, and once again in 717. Flavius Iustinus Iunior Augustus or Justin II (c. ... Flavius Tiberius Constantinus Augustus or Tiberius II Constantine (c. ... DVD cover for the film adaptation of Maurice. ... The Eurasian Avars were a nomadic people of Eurasia who migrated into central and eastern Europe in the 6th century. ... The Persians of Iran (which was named Persia until 1935) are an Iranian people who speak the Farsi dialect of Persian and often refer to themselves as ethnic Iranians as well. ... Flavius Heraclius Augustus (c. ... In the Byzantine Empire, an exarch was an essentially military viceroy who governed a part of the empire at some remove from the central (oriental) authorities, the Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and second most populous. ... A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... Events Dagobert II and Theuderic I succeed Childeric II as king(s) of the Franks First glass windows placed in English Churches Arabic siege of Constantinople begins Cenfus and then Aescwine succeed to the throne of Wessex Births Deaths Wulfhere, king of Mercia Seaxburh, queen of Japan - Temmu Emperor of... Events Pope Agatho succeeds Pope Donus. ... Events March 25 - Leo III usurps the throne of Byzantium August 15 - Muslama begins the Second Arab siege of Constantinople. ...

Importance of the City in its prime

Constantinople was historically important for a number of reasons.

First, by the 5th century, it was the largest and richest urban center in Europe, a position it would hold for nearly a thousand years. As the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (now commonly known as the Byzantine Empire), the Greeks called Constantinople simply "the City", while throughout Europe it was known as the "Queen of Cities", the richest and largest city both culturally and economically. A Russian 14th-century traveller, Stephen of Novgorod, wrote, "As for St Sophia, the human mind can neither tell it nor make description of it". Moreover, alone in Europe until the 13th century Italian florin, the Empire continued to produce sound gold coinage, the solidus of Diocletian becoming the bezant prized throughout the Middle Ages.

Secondly, Constantine assured the position of the bishop or Patriarch of Constantinople. His position so near to the counsels of the Emperor inevitably made him first among equals alongside the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, and later those that arose in the Slavic Orthodox churches.

Third, the city provided a defence for the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire against the invasions of the 5th century, for Europe against the Arabs, and for European Christendom against Islam.

(4th century - 5th century - 6th century - other centuries) // Events Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centred at its capital in Constantinople. ... Florin is The Netherlands Antilles florin is the currency of the Netherlands Antilles. ... Solidus (Latin) is the name of a Roman coin during the Roman Empire. ... Emperor Diocletian Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (245-313 AD), born Diocles, was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305. ... Bezants is a medieval name for gold coins. ... The Patriarch of Constantinople is the Ecumenical Patriarch, the first among equals in the Eastern Orthodox communion. ...

The Isaurians

In the eighth and ninth centuries the iconoclast movement caused serious political problems in the Empire. In 726 Leo III issued a decree against images, and ordered the destruction of a statue of Christ over one of the doors of the Chalke, an act which was fiercely resisted by the citizens. Constantine V convoked a church council in 754 which condemned the worship of images, after which many treasures were broken, burned, or painted over. Following the death of his son Leo IV in 780, the empress Irene restored the veneration of images through the agency of the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. An iconoclast originally referred to a person who destroyed icons, that is, sacred paintings or sculpture. ... Events City of Jarash (in present-day Jordan) suffers a major earthquake First annual Sumo tournament held by Emperor Seibu. ... Leo III (disambiguation). ... Constantine V Copronymus (The Dung-named) was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. ... Events Pope Stephen III crowns Pepin the short King of the Franks at St. ... Leo IV, called Chozar or the Khazar (c. ... Events Constantine VI becomes Byzantine Emperor with Irene as guardian. ... See: Byzantine Empress Irene 797-802 AD Eirene for the Greek goddess (one of the Horae) Irene was a Broadway musical first produced in 1919. ... The Second Council of Nicaea was the seventh ecumenical council of Christianity; it met in 787 CE in Nicaea (site of the First Council of Nicaea) to restore the honoring of icons (or, holy images), which had been suppressed by imperial edict inside the Byzantine Empire during the reign of... This article is about the year 787. ...

The Comneni and Palaeologi

Following the catastrophic defeat in 1071 of the emperor Romanus IV Diogenes by the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in Armenia, his successor Michael VII pleaded for assistance from the West. In due course this was to lead to the First Crusade, which assembled at Constantinople in 1096 in the reign of Alexius I Comnenus, and moved on towards Jerusalem. The Crusades were, however, to lead in time to the disastrous capture and sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade on April 12, 1204. The city was retaken by Byzantine forces under Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261. The Comneni founded a beautiful new imperial palace at Blachernae in the north-west of the city, and the Great Palace fell into disuse. Events Byzantine Empire loses Battle of Manzikert to Turkish army under Alp Arslan. ... Romanus IV Romanus IV (Diogenes), Byzantine emperor from 1068 to 1071, was a member of a distinguished Cappadocian family, and had risen to distinction in the army, until he was convicted of treason against the sons of Constantine X. While waiting for his execution he was summoned into the presence... The Seljuk Turks (Turkish: Selçuk; Arabic: سلجوق SaljÅ«q, السلاجقة al-Salājiqa; Persian: سلجوقيان SaljÅ«qiyān; also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuq) were a major branch of the Oghuz Turks and a dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries. ... Manzikert (in Turkish Malazgirt) is a town in Muş in eastern Turkey, with a population of 23 697 (year 2000). ... Michael VII Ducas or Parapinakes, was the eldest son of Constantine X Ducas and Eudocia Macrembolitissa. ... The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to regain control of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy Land from Muslims. ... Events Bernhard becomes Bishop of Brandenburg First documented teaching at the University of Oxford Beginning of the Peoples Crusade, the German Crusade, and the First Crusade Vital I Michele is Doge of Venice Peter I, King of Aragon, conquers Huesca Phayao, now a province of Thailand, is founded as... Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus Alexius I (1048–August 15, 1118), Byzantine emperor (1081–1118), was the third son of John Comnenus, nephew of Isaac I Comnenus (emperor 1057–1059). ... Jerusalem (31°46′ N 35°14′ E; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204), originally designed to conquer Jerusalem by taking Egypt first, instead, in 1204, sacked and conquered the Orthodox Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... // Events February - Byzantine emperor Alexius IV is overthrown in a revolution, and Alexius V is proclaimed emperor. ... The Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the states founded by refugees from the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople was conquered during the Fourth Crusade. ... Michael VIII (1225 - December 11, 1282) was the founder of the Palaeologos dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire to the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. ... Events July 25 - Constantinople re-captured by Nicaean forces under the command of Michael VIII Palaeologus, Byzantine Empire re-formed August 29 - Urban IV becomes Pope, the last man to do so without being a Cardinal first Bela IV of Hungary repels Tatar invasion Charles of Anjou given rule of... Blachernae is a suburb in the northeastern section of Constantinople. ...

End of the City

Constantinople and the Empire finally fell to the Ottoman Turks on May 29, 1453, during the reign of Constantine XI Paleologus. Even now 29 May remains an unlucky date in Greece. The 1453 Siege of Constantinople (painted 1499) The Fall of Constantinople was the conquest of the Byzantine capital by the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Mehmed II, on Tuesday, May 29, 1453. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (Ottoman Turkish for the Eternal State) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Constantinople (İstanbul) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 6. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... Events May 29 - Fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire). ... Constantine XI Paleologus Constantine XI Paleologus (sometimes numbered Constantine XII or Constantine XIII), also known as Constantine Drageses (Gr. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ...

The Ottoman Turks called the city Stamboul or Istanbul, adopting a usage in Greek "eis tin Poli" (to or at the City). But they still used "Konstantiniyye" ("Constantine's City", or Constantinople) as the official name. When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved to Ankara. Constantinople was officially renamed Istanbul by the Republic of Turkey in 1930. The use of the name in English even for the modern city remained current for some time. Shows the Location of the Province İstanbul Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul; contraction of the citys previous Greek name Constantinople, Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Ankara from the Atakule Tower, looking N-NE Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the countrys second largest city after Istanbul. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Notes

1. ^  Historical names for the city
   • Roman name: Constantinopolis;
   • Modern Greek: Konstantinoupoli or Κωνσταντινούπολη;
   • Arabic name - used by the Ottomans: Konstantiniyye.
   • Norse name: Miklagard.
   • Slavonic name: Tsargrad

Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ... Modern Greek (Νεοελληνική) is a dialect family that refers to the fifth stage of the evolution of the Greek language (the first four being Mycenean, Ancient Greek, Post-Classical or Hellenistic Greek and Medieval Greek), and it includes every dialect and idiom of Hellenic speech that exists in the world today. ... Arabic (العربية al-arabiyyah, or less formally arabi) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto El Muzaffer Daima The Ever Victorious (as written in tugra) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital İstanbul ( Constantinople/Asitane/Konstantiniyye ) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 12+ million km² Establishment 1299 Dissolution October 29, 1923... Konstantiniyye is the Ottoman name given to Constantinople, the modern day Istanbul. ... A North Germanic language is any of several Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the islands west of Scandinavia. ... Slav, Slavic or Slavonic can refer to: Slavic peoples Slavic languages Slavic mythology Church Slavonic language Old Church Slavonic language Slavonian can also refer to Slavonia, a region in eastern Croatia. ... Tsargrad (Old Church Slavonic: Цѣсарьградъ, Church Slavonic: Царьгра̀дъ, Russian: Царьгра́д, Bulgarian: Ца̀риград, Serbian: Цариград (Carigrad), also rendered as Czargrad and Tzargrad; see Tsar) is a historic Slavic name for the city of Constantinople, which is modern-day Istanbul in Turkey. ...

See also

• Patriarch of Constantinople
• Golden Horn
• Hagia Sophia
• Hippodrome of Constantinople
• the Bosporus
• Tsargrad
• Istanbul

The Patriarch of Constantinople is the Ecumenical Patriarch, the first among equals in the Eastern Orthodox communion. ... The Golden Horn from the southern or Constantinople shore, with the skyline of modern Istanbul on the far shore The Golden Horn (in Turkish Haliç, in Greek Khrysokeras or Chrysoceras or Χρυσοκερας) is an estuary dividing the city of Istanbul. ... Hagia Sophia as it appears today The Church of the Holy Wisdom, variously known as Hagia Sophia (Άγια Σοφία) in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin or Ayasofya in Turkish, is a former Greek Orthodox church converted to a mosque, now a museum, in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople. ... The Hippodrome today The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a horse-racing track that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire and the largest city in Europe. ... This article is about the strait; Bosphorus is also a university in Turkey. ... Tsargrad (Old Church Slavonic: Цѣсарьградъ, Church Slavonic: Царьгра̀дъ, Russian: Царьгра́д, Bulgarian: Ца̀риград, Serbian: Цариград (Carigrad), also rendered as Czargrad and Tzargrad; see Tsar) is a historic Slavic name for the city of Constantinople, which is modern-day Istanbul in Turkey. ... Shows the Location of the Province Ä°stanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul; contraction of the citys previous Greek name Constantinople, Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ...

External links

• Info on the name change from the Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture
• Welcome to Constantinople, documenting the monuments of Byzantine Constantinople, compiled by Robert Ousterhout, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Constantinople, from History of the Later Roman Empire, by J.B. Bury
• History of Constantinople from the "New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia."