Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul

Attribution:

ganso.org

Istanbul

Turkey

Key Dates

The European side dates back to a Neolithic settlment from circa 6500 BC. The first human settlement on the Anatolian side dates to the Copper Age period, around 5500–3500 BC. The city was founded in 667 BC. In its long history, under its various names, it has served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330-395 BC), the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395BC-1204 AD and 1261-1453), the Latin Empire (1204-1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453-1922).

Key People

Greek King Byzas was the founder of the city, and it was named Byzantium in his honour. Roman Emperor Constantine I named the city the capital of the Roman Empire in 330 BC, so its title changed to Constantinople. In 1453 it was captured by Sultan Mehmed II, and it became the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk moved the capital to Ankara with the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.

The biggest city in modern Turkey has been a cross-roads of European, Asian and world history for many centuries. Powerful empires have one after another, in an unbroken chain dating back as far 667 BC, made it one of the centres of their world and a hotbed of political, religious and artistic activity. Its strategically advantageous position on the Bosphorus peninsula between the Balkans and Anatolia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean is its major strength.

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The city's masterpieces are too many to list, but the main ones are probably the Hippodrome of Constantine, the 6th-century Hagia Sophia and the 16th-century Süleymaniye Mosque. An ever-burgeoning population as well as pollution and uncontrolled urbanization all pose modern threats to the survival of its historic buildings and sites.

Related Structures

Hippodrome of Constantine, Hagia Sophia, Süleymaniye Mosque.

Admission Fee

Admission Free

Related Websites

Istanbul.com (English)

Images