page_title: Constantinople
section_title: Popular culture
hierarchical_section_title: Constantinople / Culture / Popular culture
context_page_description: Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the brief Crusader state known as the Latin Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.
  With the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the capital of Turkey was moved to Ankara, and the Greco-Roman name Constantinople was officially changed to Istanbul in 1930, by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. This was a contraction of an earlier Greek name of the city, "εις την Πόλην". The city is still referred to as Constantinople in Greek-speaking sources. The original city is located in what is now the European side and the core of modern Istanbul.
  In 324, the ancient city of Byzantium was made the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was renamed, and dedicated on 11 May 330. From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe.
context_section_description: Constantinople appears as a city of wondrous majesty, beauty, remoteness, and nostalgia in William Butler Yeats' 1928 poem "Sailing to Byzantium."
  Constantinople, as seen under the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II, makes several on-screen appearances in the 2001 TV miniseries Attila as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.
  Finnish author Mika Waltari wrote one of his most-acclaimed historical novels, Johannes Angelos (published in English by name "The Dark Angel") on the fall of Constantinople.
  Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius, also wrote Count Belisarius, a historical novel about Belisarius. Graves set much of the novel in the Constantinople of Justinian I.
  Constantinople provides the setting of much of the action in Umberto Eco's 2000 novel Baudolino.
  The name Constantinople was made easy to spell thanks to a novelty song, "C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E," written by Harry Carlton and performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, in the 1920s.
  Constantinople's change of name was the theme for a song made famous by The Four Lads and later covered by They Might Be Giants and many others, titled "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)."
  "Constantinople" was one of the "big words" the Father knows toward the end of Dr. Seuss's book, Hop on Pop. (The other was Timbuktu.)
  "Constantinople" was also the title of the opening edit of The Residents' EP Duck Stab!, released in 1978.
  Queen's Roger Meddows Taylor included the track "Interlude in Constantinople" on Side 2 of his debut album Fun in Space.
  A Montreal-based folk/classical/fusion band calls itself "Constantinople."
  Constantinople under Justinian is the scene of the book A Flame in Byzantium (ISBN 0-312-93026-7) by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, released in 1987.
  "Constantinople" is the title of a song by The Decemberists.
  Stephen Lawhead's novel Byzantium (1996) is set in 9th-century Constantinople.
  Folk Metal band Turisas makes multiple references to Constantinople in their song "Miklagard Overture," referring to it as "Konstantinopolis," "Tsargrad," and "Miklagard."
  Constantinople makes an appearance in the MMORPG game Silkroad as a major capital, along with a major Chinese capital.
  Constantinople makes an appearance in the "Rome Total War" expansion "Barbarian Invasion" belonging to the Eastern Roman Empire. It would reappear in the same role for the spiritual sequel, Total War: Attila.
  Constantinople also makes an appearance in "Medieval Total War." It is a starting province and city of the Byzantines.
  Constantinople makes an appearance in the game "Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings" in the fifth scenario of the Barbarossa campaign and again in the third scenario of the Attila the Hun campaign in the expansion pack "Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion."
  Constantinople is the main setting of the game "Assassin's Creed: Revelations," the fourth major title in the best-selling "Assassin's Creed" series.
  Constantinople is also a setting of the Vampire: The Dark Ages role playing game by White Wolf.
  Constantinople is one of the territories featured in the Board Game Diplomacy. It is one of the default territories of Turkey.
  Constantinople appears in "Europa Universalis IV" and in "Crusader Kings II" as the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which is featured in both games.
  Constantinople appears as the capital of the Byzantine civilization in several installments of the video game series "Civilization".
caption: Page depicting Constantinople in the Nuremberg Chronicle published in 1493, forty years after the city's fall to the Muslims.
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