A Breathtaking Video 3D Rendering of Constantinople and Its Wondrous Waters

On the 29th of May 1453 Constantinople fell in the Ottomans' hands after a long siege. But the memory of Byzantine Constantinople remains alive.

Here is a breathtaking rendering of the City's water system.



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Amazing Hagia Sophia: A Video Reconstruction

A life-like walk through the amazing cathedral of Hagia Sophia:

Watch: The Theodosian Walls, a Reconstruction

The Land Walls, of which great parts survive, were built between 408 and 413 by the emperor Theodosios II. From the older Constantinian Walls only the Old golden Gate did still exist in the late byzantine time. The Land Walls consisted of a main wall, a lower front wall that was perhaps added only in 447, and a trench that was divided in sections and could be filled with water. A number of gates provided acces to the city, among which the Golden Gate is the most important one. The Land Walls were frequently restored, and they were never taken by a foreign power before 1453 when the Ottomans destroyed parts of it by their artillery.

Byzantine Grave Found in Istanbul

From Hurriyet:

Archaeologists have uncovered a Roman-Byzantine grave underneath Istanbul’s famous İstiklal Avenue, providing evidence of human activity in one of the city’s most important areas at a date earlier than previously thought.

The grave was unearthed during the restoration of the historic Casa Garibaldi building on the avenue when a worker discovered a 1,600- to 1800-year-old skull eight meters under the surface.

Stunning 3D Reconstruction of the Column of Leo

Images of the column from Byzantium 1200

Roman and Byzantine Istanbul

The Byzantine era in Istanbul is considered to have begun in 300BC with Emperor Constantine the Great announcing the city as Byzantium and the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Istanbul’s unique and strategic position rendering the city favourable as a capital.
From that time on, the city came to be known as Constantinople, or the ‘city of Constantine’. It also came to be referred to as ‘New Rome’ due to its resemblance to that great western city. Both cities are spread across seven hills with the settlement of Old Istanbul confined by the Sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn, while those of Rome were established on either side of the River Tiber.
Shortly after the city became the capital, the power of Rome shifted eastwards and Constantinople became a centre for Christianity and Greek culture. During the reign of the Byzantine Empire the city was adorned with many artistic and architectural works. Roman temples were replaced by churches and many new churches, including the Hagia Sophia, which became the largest building in the world for a thousand years, were built in the four corners of the city.
During Constantine’s imperial rule the city witnessed great change and development with the hippodrome, aqueducts, city walls, palaces and squares being built. Towards the late Byzantine era Constantinople became the largest and wealthiest city in continental Europe.
The city became dilapidated after the Fourth Crusades, though 1261 marked a year of revival for the Byzantine Empire which had already been weakened greatly. The urban population decreased to just a hundred thousand from half a million as Byzantium lost its previous reputation as the strongest imperial power: the vast empire had shrunk so much that it now only occupied the area of Constantinople. Soon after the city became the target of the Ottomans and the Byzantine emperors accepted their hegemony and began to pay taxes to them. In mid-14th century the Ottomans began to capture small towns surrounding the city and shut down the supply routes that led to it.
Mehmet II spent a year preparing his attack on Constantinople. Molten metal was poured to make cannons and the Rumeli Fortress was built in order to bring the Bosphorus under their control as the number of soldiers was doubled. In April 1453 the first Ottoman advance troops appeared at the gates of Constantinople and after a siege of eight weeks, ships were hauled over land to the Golden Horn from Kasımpaşa. What was a shock for the Byzantines became a legend in the city’s history. Constantinople was seized by Sultan Mehmet II, who became known as Mehmet the Conqueror, and the city was announced as the new capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Source: How to Istanbul

Click here for a list of Byzantine and Roman monuments of Istanbul

The Harbors and the Maritime Neighborhoods of Constantinople

From the article by P. Magdalino, The Maritime Neighborhoods of Constantinople: Commercial and Residential Functions, Sixth to Twelfth Centuries, DOP 54, 2000

Constantinople, like New York, is a city not only by the sea, but also, to a large extent, in the sea. The effect of the sea on the fabric of the city is strongly pervasive, and it makes sense to start from the sea when investigating urban neighborhoods. By far the best evidence for the texture of urban neighborhoods comes from twelfth-century documents concerning the real estate conceded to the Italian maritime republics of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa—real estate that lay close to the shores of the Golden Horn. Since the sea is not far from any part of the city or its suburbs, and is indeed visible from almost anywhere within the Theodosian walls, it may well be asked what is meant by a maritime neighborhood. What distinguishes it from an inland neighborhood? Where does the one end and the other begin? Eleven of the twelve urban regions of the fifth-century Notitia urbis Constantinopolitanae bordered on the sea, but only Regions I and IX had a long coastline.1 Most of the other regions extended from a narrow stretch of coast to a narrow bloc of the city center. However, the regions were administrative rather than social or economic units. If we take into account the topography, the layout of public spaces, and the location of public monuments, we can draw a broad working distinction between those parts of the city that looked primarily toward the sea and those orientated toward the central avenue (Mese), the fora, and the great public buildings. Only in rare cases was a focal point such as the Strategion or the Leomakellon situated so close to the sea as to constitute a rival attraction.

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