why was constantinople important in the byzantine empire
Eventually, after the founding of the modern Republic of Turkey âthe successor state of the Ottoman Empireâthe city was formally renamed to Istanbul in 1930. Constantinople was famed for its massive defenses. Although besieged on numerous occasions by various peoples, the Byzantine city was taken only in 1204 by the Latin army of the Fourth Crusade, recovered in 1261 by the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, and in 1453 conquered by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.