Constantinople

Constantinople (; ) was the capital city of the Roman Empire from 330 AD and later what historians called the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople was located in the Bosporus, the strait between the Balkans and Asia Minor.

 History 
For centuries the city was not very large, and was called Byzantium. In the 4th century, Roman emperor Constantine the Great made Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire and renamed it to Constantinople. 

In the 13th century, Constantinople was looted and captured by crusaders during the Fourth Crusade. The crusaders created the Latin Empire (12041261), with Constantinople as the capital city. In 1261, the Empire of Nicaea successfully restored the Byzantine Empire, under the rule of the Palaiologos dynasty.

In 1453 the Ottoman sultan Mehmed the Conqueror captured Constantinople. The city was renamed Istanbul and became the capital of the Ottoman Empire (14531922).

Over time, the city's short name in  became the name Istanbul. This name became the city's official name in 1930, during the government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Related pages
 Istanbul

 Other websites 
 Monuments of Byzantium  - Pantokrator Monastery of Constantinople
 Mosaics of Hagia Sophia - The Deesis Mosaic from Hagia Sophia
 Constantinoupolis on the web Select internet resources on the history and culture of Constantinople
 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

Category:Constantinople
Category:Ancient Roman cities