page_title: Constantinople
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Constantinople / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Original Horses Inside Basilica San Marco
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.
caption: The four bronze horses that used to be in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, today in Venice
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