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138-805: Karaites have lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul ) for more than a thousand years. Smaller settlements in the surrounding area of Constantinople have existed as well, such as the Karaites of Adrianople , who themselves descend from the Constantinopolitan community. While having close relations and daily interactions with the Grecophone Byzantine Christians and the Romaniote Jews, they nonetheless developed their own unique Karaeo-Greek dialect of

276-466: A Black Sea undersea river . The Golden Horn is an estuary off the main strait that historically acted as a moat to protect Constantinople from attack, as well as providing sheltered anchorage for the imperial navies of various empires until the 19th century, after which it became a historic neighbourhood at the heart of Istanbul. Before the 20th century it was already known that the Black Sea and

414-532: A cable-stayed bridge cross the Bosporus. The first of these, the 1,074 m (3,524 ft) long 15th July Martyrs Bridge was completed in 1973 when it was called the Bosporus Bridge. The second, named Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Bosporus II) Bridge , is 1,090 m (3,576 ft) long, and was completed in 1988 about 5 km (3 mi) north of the first bridge. The first Bosporus Bridge forms part of

552-480: A submarine channel , for the first time. Submarine channels are similar to land rivers, but they are formed by density currents—underwater flow mixtures of sand, mud and water that are denser than sea water and so sink and flow along the bottom. These channels are the main transport pathway for sediments to the deep sea where they form sedimentary deposits. The team studied the detailed flow within these channels and its findings included that: The channel complex and

690-456: A 15th/16th century paytan , Judah Gibbor, a paytan and author of several writings, Judah Poki ben Eliezer (nephew of Elijah Bashyazi) a scholar, Elijah Yerushalmi also a scholar and others. These authors have produced prominent theological, liturgical and philosophical works, which have been eminent for the development of the wider Karaite Judaism. It was the work "Seder Tefillot" (Book of Prayers and Hymns) of Aaron ben Joseph of Constantinople that

828-556: A call for aid from Alexius , the First Crusade assembled at Constantinople in 1096, but declining to put itself under Byzantine command set out for Jerusalem on its own account. John II built the monastery of the Pantocrator (Almighty) with a hospital for the poor of 50 beds. With the restoration of firm central government, the empire became fabulously wealthy. The population was rising (estimates for Constantinople in

966-643: A center of culture and education of the Mediterranean basin, Constantinople came to be known by prestigious titles such as Basileuousa (Queen of Cities) and Megalopolis (the Great City) and was, in colloquial speech, commonly referred to as just Polis ( ἡ Πόλις ) 'the City' by Constantinopolitans and provincial Byzantines alike. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently. The medieval Vikings, who had contacts with

1104-634: A city-state until it was annexed by Darius I in 512 BC into the Persian Empire , who saw the site as the optimal location to construct a pontoon bridge crossing into Europe as Byzantium was situated at the narrowest point in the Bosphorus strait. Persian rule lasted until 478 BC when as part of the Greek counterattack to the Second Persian invasion of Greece , a Greek army led by

1242-570: A double wall lying about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the west of the first wall and a moat with palisades in front. Constantinople's location between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara reduced the land area that needed defensive walls. The city was built intentionally to rival Rome , and it was claimed that several elevations within its walls matched Rome's 'seven hills'. The impenetrable defenses enclosed magnificent palaces, domes, and towers,

1380-838: A dwindling and depopulated city. In 1261, the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos liberated the city, and after the restoration under the Palaiologos dynasty, it enjoyed a partial recovery. With the advent of the Ottoman Empire in 1299, the Byzantine Empire began to lose territories, and the city began to lose population. By the early 15th century, the Byzantine Empire was reduced to just Constantinople and its environs, along with Morea in Greece, making it an enclave inside

1518-711: A lengthy campaign during which the Ottomans constructed fortifications on each side of the strait, the Anadoluhisarı (Anatolian Castle, 1393) and the Rumelihisarı (European Castle, 1451), in preparation for not only the primary battle but to assert long-term control over the Bosporus and surrounding waterways. The final 53-day campaign, which resulted in Ottoman victory, constituted an important turn in world history. Together with Christopher Columbus 's first voyage to

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1656-551: A major flood. As the waters surged, they scoured a network of sea-floor channels less resistant to denser suspended solids in liquid, which remains a very active layer today. The first images of these submarine channels showing them to be of great size, were obtained in 1999 during a NATO SACLANT Undersea Research project using jointly the NATO RV Alliance , and the Turkish Navy survey ship Çubuklu . In 2002,

1794-646: A new bodyguard known as the Varangian Guard . They were known for their ferocity, honour, and loyalty. It is said that, in 1038, they were dispersed in winter quarters in the Thracesian Theme when one of their number attempted to violate a countrywoman, but in the struggle she seized his sword and killed him; instead of taking revenge, however, his comrades applauded her conduct, compensated her with all his possessions, and exposed his body without burial as if he had committed suicide. However, following

1932-667: A new city wall in his name, the Severan Wall. Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Having restored the unity of the Empire, and, being in the course of major governmental reforms as well as of sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church , he was well aware that Rome was an unsatisfactory capital. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, and it offered an undesirable playground for disaffected politicians. Yet it had been

2070-643: A number of conflicts in modern history, notably the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) , as well as of the attack of the Allied Powers on the Dardanelles during the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli in the course of World War I . In 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine the Bosporus' importance as a route by which grain reached the world was thrown into sharp profile. The strategic importance of

2208-476: A survey carried out on board the Ifremer RV Le Suroit for BlaSON project (Lericolais, et al., 2003 ) completed the multibeam mapping of this underwater channel fan-delta. A complete map was published in 2009 using these previous results together with high quality mapping obtained in 2006 (by researchers at Memorial University of Newfoundland who were project partners in the study). The project

2346-508: A walled garden and then a water sports centre, before it was given to the Galatasaray Sports Club , hence its name. However, in the 2010s it was completely overbuilt with nightclubs. In another change, the government had these torn down in 2017. It reopened to the public in the summer of 2022. The exact cause and date of the formation of the Bosporus remain a subject of debate among geologists. One recent hypothesis, dubbed

2484-453: A width of 3,329 m (1.798 nmi) at the northern entrance and 2,826 m (1.526 nmi) at the southern entrance. Its maximum width is 3,420 m (1.85 nmi) between Umuryeri and Büyükdere Limanı, and minimum width is 700 m (0.38 nmi) between Kandilli Point and Aşiyan . The depth of the Bosporus varies from 13 to 110 m (43 to 361 ft) in midstream with an average of 65 m (213 ft). The deepest point

2622-488: Is between Kandilli and Bebek , at 110 m (360 ft). The shallowest locations are off Kadıköy İnciburnu at 18 m (59 ft) and off Aşiyan Point at 13 m (43 ft). The southbound flow of water is 16 000 m /s (fresh water at the surface) and the northbound flow is 11 000 m /s (salt water near the bottom). Dan Parsons and researchers at the University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment describe

2760-475: Is important in understanding the sedimentology and layers of sediment deposited by these systems. The central tenet of the Black Sea deluge hypothesis is that as the ocean rose 72.5 metres (238 ft) at the end of the last Ice Age when the massive ice sheets melted, the sealed Bosporus was overwhelmed by a spectacular flood that increased the then fresh water Black Sea Lake by 50%, and drove people back from

2898-572: Is known about this initial settlement. The site, according to the founding myth of the city, was abandoned by the time Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded Byzantium ( Ancient Greek : Βυζάντιον , romanized :  Byzántion ) in around 657  BC, across from the town of Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. Hesychius of Miletus wrote that some "claim that people from Megara, who derived their descent from Nisos, sailed to this place under their leader Byzas, and invent

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3036-714: Is not justified by the ancient Greek name, and dictionaries prefer the spelling with -p- . However -ph- occurs as a variant in medieval Latin (as Bosphor , and occasionally Bosphorus or Bospherus ), and in medieval Greek sometimes as Βόσφορος , giving rise to the French Bosphore , the Spanish Bósforo , the Italian Bosforo and the Russian Босфор . The 12th-century Greek scholar John Tzetzes calls it Damaliten Bosporon (after Damalis ), but he also reports that in popular usage

3174-481: Is of Thracian origin. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas . The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honor of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was more likely just a play on the word Byzantion . The city was briefly renamed Augusta Antonina in the early 3rd century AD by

3312-518: Is possible that the Crimean Karaites are descendants of Karaite merchants who migrated to Crimea from the Byzantine Empire. In one particular incidence, migration of Karaites from Constantinople to Crimea is documented following a fire in the Jewish quarter of Constantinople in 1203. On Karaeo-Greek Constantinople Constantinople ( see other names ) became the capital of

3450-618: Is still used by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the title of one of their most important leaders, the Orthodox patriarch based in the city, referred to as "His Most Divine All-Holiness the Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch". In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpoli(s) ( Κωνσταντινούπολις/Κωνσταντινούπολη ) or simply just "the City" ( Η Πόλη ). Constantinople

3588-559: The Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental boundaries between Asia and Europe . It also divides Turkey by separating Asia minor from Thrace . It is the world's narrowest strait used for international navigation . Most of the shores of the Bosporus Strait, except for the area to the north, are heavily settled, with the city of Istanbul 's metropolitan population of 17 million inhabitants extending inland from both banks. The Bosporus Strait and

3726-568: The Black Sea deluge hypothesis , which was launched by a study of the same name in 1997 by two scientists from Columbia University , postulates that the Bosporus was flooded around 5600 BCE (revised to 6800 BCE in 2003) when the rising waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Marmara broke through to the Black Sea, which at the time, according to the hypothesis, was a low-lying body of fresh water. Many geologists, however, claim that

3864-815: The Church of John the Baptist to house the skull of the saint (today preserved at the Topkapı Palace ), put up a memorial pillar to himself in the Forum of Taurus, and turned the ruined temple of Aphrodite into a coach house for the Praetorian Prefect ; Arcadius built a new forum named after himself on the Mese, near the walls of Constantine. After the shock of the Battle of Adrianople in 378, in which Valens and

4002-582: The Church of the Resurrection or the New Church. Chariot-racing had been important in Rome for centuries. In Constantinople, the hippodrome became over time increasingly a place of political significance. It was where (as a shadow of the popular elections of old Rome) the people by acclamation showed their approval of a new emperor, and also where they openly criticized the government, or clamoured for

4140-768: The Dardanelles Strait at the opposite end of the Sea of Marmara are together known as the Turkish Straits . Sections of the shore of the Bosporus in Istanbul have been reinforced with concrete or rubble and those sections of the Strait prone to deposition are periodically dredged. The name of the strait comes from the Ancient Greek Βόσπορος ( Bósporos ), which was folk-etymologised as βοὸς πόρος , i.e. "cattle strait" (like "Ox-ford" ), from

4278-691: The Eastern Orthodox Church , which served as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate ; the sacred Imperial Palace , where the emperors lived; the Hippodrome ; the Golden Gate of the Land Walls; and opulent aristocratic palaces. The University of Constantinople was founded in the 5th century and contained artistic and literary treasures before it was sacked in 1204 and 1453, including its vast Imperial Library which contained

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4416-578: The First World War , the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres demilitarised the Strait and made it an international territory under the control of the League of Nations . This was amended by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) , which restored the straits to Turkey but allowed all foreign warships and commercial shipping to traverse the straits freely. Turkey eventually rejected the terms of that treaty, and remilitarised

4554-517: The Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbor. Already then, in Greek and early Roman times, Byzantium was famous for the strategic geographic position that made it difficult to besiege and capture, and its position at the crossroads of the Asiatic-European trade route over land and as the gateway between the Mediterranean and Black Seas made it too valuable a settlement to abandon, as Emperor Septimius Severus later realized when he razed

4692-839: The O1 Motorway , while the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge forms part of the Trans-European Motorway . The third and most recent bridge, the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge , is 2,164 m (7,100 ft) long and was completed in 2016. It is located near the northern end of the Bosporus, between the villages of Garipçe on the European side and Poyrazköy on the Asian side, as part of the " Northern Marmara Motorway ", integrated into

4830-544: The Pax Romana , for nearly three centuries until the late 2nd century AD. Byzantium was never a major influential city-state like that of Athens , Corinth or Sparta , but the city enjoyed relative peace and steady growth as a prosperous trading city lent by its remarkable position. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean , and had in

4968-1032: The Roman Empire during the reign of Constantine the Great in 330. Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century, Constantinople remained the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire ; 330–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). Following the Turkish War of Independence , the Turkish capital then moved to Ankara . Officially renamed Istanbul in 1930,

5106-529: The Suez Canal , making it a crucial international waterway, in particular for the passage of goods coming from Russia . There is one very small island in the Bosporus just off Kuruçeşme. Now generally known as Galatasaray Island ( Galatasaray Adası), this was given to the Armenian architect Sarkis Balyan by Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1880. The house he built on it was later demolished. The island became

5244-781: The Tiberian Hebrew of the Tiberian Masoretes . In spite of the small size of this community, the Constantinopolitan Karaites have had a great influence on the Karaite Judaism through their literary output. The communities of Constantinople and Adrianople produced eminent personalities for the Karaite movement like Caleb Afendopolo , Elijah Bashyazi , Aaron ben Joseph of Constantinople , Aaron ben Elijah , Judah Hadassi , Moses Beghi

5382-403: The Yevanic language ; this dialect was used by elder members of the community until recently. The Karaite Elias Afeda Beghi compiled a glossary on the Hebrew Bible with Hebrew words translated into Greek. Other works of Greco-Karaite literature are also known. Until recently, the Constantinopolitan Karaites spoke Karaeo-Greek . Their Hebrew has some special features which connect them with

5520-430: The 12th century vary from some 100,000 to 500,000), and towns and cities across the realm flourished. Meanwhile, the volume of money in circulation dramatically increased. This was reflected in Constantinople by the construction of the Blachernae palace, the creation of brilliant new works of art, and general prosperity at this time: an increase in trade, made possible by the growth of the Italian city-states, may have helped

5658-423: The 12th century. Toward the end of Manuel I Komnenos 's reign, the number of foreigners in the city reached about 60,000–80,000 people out of a total population of about 400,000 people. In 1171, Constantinople also contained a small community of 2,500 Jews. In 1182, most Latin (Western European) inhabitants of Constantinople were massacred . In artistic terms, the 12th century was a very productive period. There

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5796-466: The 13th and 11th centuries BC. The site, according to the founding myth of the city, was abandoned by the time Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded Byzantium ( Ancient Greek : Βυζάντιον , Byzántion ) in around 657 BC, across from the town of Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus. The origins of the name of Byzantion , more commonly known by the later Latin Byzantium , are not entirely clear, though some suggest it

5934-488: The 19th century. Until the early 20th century most were only accessible by boat (known as caiques) along the Bosporus since there were no coast roads. Today the villages are no more than suburbs of Greater Istanbul but many retain the memory of their original village status in the suffix '- köy ( village' to their names. e.g. Ortaköy , Yeniköy , Arnavutköy , Çengelköy and Vaniköy. These villages often had distinct identities associated with agriculture: Arnavutköy, for example,

6072-435: The Americas in 1492, the 1453 conquest of Constantinople is commonly noted as among the events that brought an end to the Middle Ages and marked the transition to the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery . The event also marked the end of the Byzantines —the final remnants of the Roman Empire —and the transfer of the control of the Bosporus into Ottoman hands. The Ottomans then made Constantinople their new capital, and

6210-425: The Bosporus "Stenon" and used the following major toponyms in the area: The strategic significance of the Strait was one of the factors in the decision of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great to found his new capital, Constantinople , there in AD 330. This then became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire . On 29 May 1453, the then-emergent Ottoman Empire conquered the city of Constantinople following

6348-448: The Bosporus and plundered the monasteries and other properties on the suburban Princes' Islands . Oryphas , the admiral of the Byzantine fleet, alerted the emperor Michael, who promptly put the invaders to flight; but the suddenness and savagery of the onslaught made a deep impression on the citizens. In 980, the emperor Basil II received an unusual gift from Prince Vladimir of Kiev: 6,000 Varangian warriors, which Basil formed into

6486-419: The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and thence to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas via the Dardanelles. It also connects various seas along the Eastern Mediterranean , the Balkans , the Near East , and Western Eurasia . Thus, the Bosporus allows maritime connections from the Black Sea all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean via Gibraltar, and to the Indian Ocean through

6624-402: The Bosporus dates back millennia. In the 5th century BC the Greek city-state of Athens , which depended on grain imports from the Black Sea ports of Scythia , maintained critical alliances with cities which controlled the straits, such as the Megarian colony of Byzantium . In an attempt to subdue the Scythian horsemen who roamed across the north of the Black Sea, the Persian King Darius I

6762-408: The Caesar (Emperor)', from the Slavonic words tsar ('Caesar' or 'King') and grad ('city'). This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις ( Vasileos Polis ), 'the city of the emperor [king]'. In Persian the city was also called Asitane (the Threshold of the State), and in Armenian , it was called Gosdantnubolis (City of Constantine). The modern Turkish name for

6900-515: The Danube about this time and advanced into Thrace, but he was deserted by many of his followers, who joined with the Romans in driving their king back north of the river. Subsequent to this, new walls were built to defend the city and the fleet on the Danube improved. After the barbarians overran the Western Roman Empire, Constantinople became the indisputable capital city of the Roman Empire. Emperors were no longer peripatetic between various court capitals and palaces. They remained in their palace in

7038-502: The Doge and the leading Franks were installed in the Great Palace, and the city was given over to pillage for three days. Bosporus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( / ˈ b ɒ s p ər ə s , ˈ b ɒ s f ər ə s / BOSS -pər-əs, BOSS -fər-əs ; Turkish : İstanbul Boğazı , lit.   'Istanbul strait', colloquially Boğaz ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul , Turkey . The Bosporus connects

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7176-433: The Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211), who razed the city to the ground in 196 for supporting a rival contender in the civil war and had it rebuilt in honor of his son Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (who succeeded him as Emperor), popularly known as Caracalla . The name appears to have been quickly forgotten and abandoned, and the city reverted to Byzantium/Byzantion after either the assassination of Caracalla in 217 or, at

7314-411: The Gate of the Droungarios ( Turkish : Odun Kapısı ) on the Golden Horn. Nevertheless, the destruction wrought by the 1197 fire paled in comparison with that brought by the Crusaders. In the course of a plot between Philip of Swabia , Boniface of Montferrat and the Doge of Venice , the Fourth Crusade was, despite papal excommunication, diverted in 1203 against Constantinople, ostensibly promoting

7452-507: The Great ( r.  522 BC – 486 BC ) crossed the Bosporus, then marched towards the River Danube . His army crossed the Bosporus using an enormous bridge made by connecting boats. This bridge essentially connected the farthest geographic tip of Asia to Europe, encompassing at least some 1,000 metres of open. Years later, Xerxes I would construct a similar boat bridge across the Dardanelles ( Hellespont ) strait (480 BC), during his invasion of Greece . The Byzantines called

7590-415: The Great . On 11 May 330, it was renamed Constantinople and dedicated to Constantine. Constantinople is generally considered to be the center and the "cradle of Orthodox Christian civilization ". From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe. The city became famous for its architectural masterpieces, such as Hagia Sophia , the cathedral of

7728-420: The Great City and sent generals to command their armies. The wealth of the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia flowed into Constantinople. The emperor Justinian I (527–565) was known for his successes in war, for his legal reforms and for his public works. It was from Constantinople that his expedition for the reconquest of the former Diocese of Africa set sail on or about 21 June 533. Before their departure,

7866-435: The Ottoman Empire. The city was finally besieged and conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1453, remaining under its control until the early 20th century, after which it was renamed Istanbul under the Empire's successor state , Turkey. According to Pliny the Elder in his Natural History , the first known name of a settlement on the site of Constantinople was Lygos , a settlement likely of Thracian origin founded between

8004-410: The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, but were regained with the Treaty of Kars in 1921), was a consideration in Turkey's decision to abandon neutrality in foreign affairs . Turkey declared war against Germany in February 1945, but did not engage in offensive actions. Turkey joined NATO in 1952, thus affording the straits even more strategic importance as a commercial and military waterway. During

8142-473: The Sea of Marmara flow into each other in a geographic example of "density flow". Then in August 2010, a continuous 'underwater channel' of suspension composition was discovered flowing along the floor of the Bosporus, which would be the sixth largest river on Earth if it were on land. The 2010 team of scientists, led by the University of Leeds , used a robotic "yellow submarine" to observe detailed flows within this "undersea river", scientifically referred to as

8280-491: The Spartan general Pausanias captured the city which remained an independent, yet subordinate, city under the Athenians, and later to the Spartans after 411 BC. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.  150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. This treaty would pay dividends retrospectively as Byzantium would maintain this independent status, and prosper under peace and stability in

8418-404: The Strait. Under the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi of 8 July 1833, the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits were to be closed to the naval vessels of other powers on Russian demand. By the terms of the London Straits Convention , concluded on 13 July 1841 between the Great Powers of Europe ( Russia , the United Kingdom , France , Austria and Prussia ), the "ancient rule" of the Ottoman Empire

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8556-440: The Thracian shore at the mouth of the Pontos,     where two pups drink of the gray sea,     where fish and stag graze on the same pasture, set up their dwellings at the place where the rivers Kydaros and Barbyses have their estuaries, one flowing from the north, the other from the west, and merging with the sea at the altar of the nymph called Semestre" The city maintained independence as

8694-400: The Turkish Government started to discuss creating a man-made canal roughly 80 kilometres (50 mi) long that would run north–south through the western edges of Istanbul Province as a second route from the Black Sea to the Marmara. It was suggested that this would reduce the risk from shipping to the Bosporus. The controverislal Kanal İstanbul project continues to be debated. In 2022

8832-407: The Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script. After that, as part of the Turkification movement, Turkey started to urge other countries to use Turkish names for Turkish cities , instead of other transliterations to Latin script that had been used in Ottoman times and the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. The name Constantinople

8970-402: The accession of Theodosius I , emperors had been resident only in the years 337–338, 347–351, 358–361, 368–369. Its status as a capital was recognized by the appointment of the first known Urban Prefect of the City Honoratus, who held office from 11 December 359 until 361. The urban prefects had concurrent jurisdiction over three provinces each in the adjacent dioceses of Thrace (in which the city

9108-461: The ancestor of the greatest of all heroes, Heracles (Hercules). Io supposedly went ashore near Chrysopolis (present-day Üsküdar ), which was named Bous 'the Cow'. The same site was also known as Damalis ( Δάμαλις ), as it was where the Athenian general Chares had erected a monument to his wife Damalis, which included a colossal statue of a cow (the name δαμάλις translating to 'heifer'). The English spelling with -ph- ( Bosphor )

9246-413: The base from which they expanded their empire in the centuries that followed. At its peak between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Ottoman Empire was able to use the strategic importance of the Bosporus to wrest control of the entire Black Sea area, which they regarded as an "Ottoman lake", from which Russian warships were prohibited. Subsequently, several international treaties have governed access to

9384-428: The blue and green factions, innocent and guilty. This came full circle on the relationship within the Hippodrome between the power and the people during the time of Justinian. Fires started by the Nika rioters consumed the Theodosian basilica of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), the city's cathedral, which lay to the north of the Augustaeum and had itself replaced the Constantinian basilica founded by Constantius II to replace

9522-407: The canal even though a route for it had been established. The Bosphorus takes its name from the Greek mythological story of Io , who was transformed into a cow and, pursued by a gadfly, was condemned to wander the Earth until she reached the Strait. There she met the Titan Prometheus , who comforted her by telling her that she would be restored to human form by Zeus and become the ancestor of

9660-455: The capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Nevertheless, Constantine identified the site of Byzantium as the right place: a place where an emperor could sit, readily defended, with easy access to the Danube or the Euphrates frontiers, his court supplied from the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries filled by

9798-479: The city could no longer be supplied from Egypt as a result of the Persian wars: the population fell substantially as a result. While the city withstood a siege by the Sassanids and Avars in 626, Heraclius campaigned deep into Persian territory and briefly restored the status quo in 628, when the Persians surrendered all their conquests. However, further sieges followed the Arab conquests , first from 674 to 678 and then in 717 to 718 . The Theodosian Walls kept

9936-627: The city impenetrable from the land, while a newly discovered incendiary substance known as Greek fire allowed the Byzantine navy to destroy the Arab fleets and keep the city supplied. In the second siege, the second ruler of Bulgaria , Khan Tervel , rendered decisive help. He was called Saviour of Europe . In the 730s Leo III carried out extensive repairs of the Theodosian walls, which had been damaged by frequent and violent attacks; this work

10074-631: The city is today the largest city in Europe , straddling the Bosporus strait and lying in both Europe and Asia , and the financial center of Turkey . In 324,following the reunification of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, the ancient city of Byzantium was selected to serve as the new capital of the Roman Empire, and the city was renamed Nova Roma, or 'New Rome', by Emperor Constantine

10212-431: The city to the ground for supporting Pescennius Niger 's claimancy . It was a move greatly criticized by the contemporary consul and historian Cassius Dio who said that Severus had destroyed "a strong Roman outpost and a base of operations against the barbarians from Pontus and Asia". He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina , fortifying it with

10350-455: The city was also called 'Second Rome', 'Eastern Rome', and Roma Constantinopolitana ( Latin for 'Constantinopolitan Rome'). As the city became the sole remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew, the city also came to have a multitude of nicknames. As the largest and wealthiest city in Europe during the 4th–13th centuries and

10488-574: The city, İstanbul , derives from the Greek phrase eis tin Polin ( εἰς τὴν πόλιν ), meaning '(in)to the city'. This name was used in colloquial speech in Turkish alongside Kostantiniyye , the more formal adaptation of the original Constantinople , during the period of Ottoman rule, while western languages mostly continued to refer to the city as Constantinople until the early 20th century. In 1928,

10626-730: The city. Constantine laid out a new square at the centre of old Byzantium, naming it the Augustaeum . The new senate-house (or Curia) was housed in a basilica on the east side. On the south side of the great square was erected the Great Palace of the Emperor with its imposing entrance, the Chalke , and its ceremonial suite known as the Palace of Daphne . Nearby was the vast Hippodrome for chariot-races, seating over 80,000 spectators, and

10764-477: The claims of Alexios IV Angelos brother-in-law of Philip, son of the deposed emperor Isaac II Angelos . The reigning emperor Alexios III Angelos had made no preparation. The Crusaders occupied Galata , broke the defensive chain protecting the Golden Horn , and entered the harbour, where on 27 July they breached the sea walls: Alexios III fled. But the new Alexios IV Angelos found the Treasury inadequate, and

10902-619: The construction of the Theodosian Walls in the early 5th century, it was extended to the new Golden Gate , reaching a total length of seven Roman miles . After the construction of the Theodosian Walls, Constantinople consisted of an area approximately the size of Old Rome within the Aurelian walls, or some 1,400 ha. The importance of Constantinople increased, but it was gradual. From the death of Constantine in 337 to

11040-402: The course alteration, making it impossible for ships approaching from the opposite direction to see around the bends. The risks posed by this geography are further multiplied by the heavy ferry traffic across the Strait, linking the European and Asian sides of the city. As such, all the dangers and obstacles characteristic of narrow waterways are present and acute in this vital sea lane. In 2011,

11178-604: The death of an Emperor, they became known also for plunder in the Imperial palaces. Later in the 11th century the Varangian Guard became dominated by Anglo-Saxons who preferred this way of life to subjugation by the new Norman kings of England . The Book of the Eparch , which dates to the 10th century, gives a detailed picture of the city's commercial life and its organization at that time. The corporations in which

11316-410: The density flow provide the ideal natural laboratory for investigating and detailing the structure of the flow field through the channel. Our initial findings show that the flow in these channels is quite different to the flow in river channels on land. Specifically, as flow moves around a bend it spirals in the opposite direction in the deep sea compared to the spiral found in river channels on land. This

11454-424: The dues levied by Turkey for freight ships increased 500% to US$ 4 per ton, the first change since 1983. The Bosporus is fairly deep and there is no definite limit on the depth and length of a ship, but ships over 150 metres long or 10 metres deep must pre-book their passage. Those over 300 metres long must follow a special clearance procedure. There is an air draft limit of 57 metres. Two suspension bridges and

11592-597: The early 21st century, the Turkish Straits have become particularly important for the oil industry. Russian oil, from ports such as Novorossiysk , was exported by tankers primarily to the U.S. via the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits. In 2011, Turkey proposed to build a 50 km (31 mi) canal west of the Bosporus, suggesting that it would reduce the risk presented to the Bosporus by oil tankers and other cargo ships. The project proved highly controversial and, as of 2022 , work had not been started on building

11730-710: The empire through their expansion in eastern Europe ( Varangians ), used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr (from mikill 'big' and garðr 'city'), and later Miklagard and Miklagarth . In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-Kubra (Great City of the Romans) and in Persian as Takht-e Rum (Throne of the Romans). In East and South Slavic languages, including in Kievan Rus' , Constantinople has been referred to as Tsargrad ( Царьград ) or Carigrad , 'City of

11868-585: The empress Irene restored the veneration of images through the agency of the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. The iconoclast controversy returned in the early 9th century, only to be resolved once more in 843 during the regency of Empress Theodora , who restored the icons. These controversies contributed to the deterioration of relations between the Western and the Eastern Churches. In

12006-437: The existing Black Sea Coastal Highway, and allowing transit traffic to bypass city traffic. The Marmaray project, featuring a 13.7 km (8.5 mi) long undersea railway tunnel , opened on 29 October 2013. Approximately 1,400 m (4,593 ft) of the tunnel runs under the strait, at a depth of about 55 m (180 ft). An undersea water supply tunnel with a length of 5,551 m (18,212 ft), named

12144-528: The fable that his name was attached to the city". Some versions of the founding myth say Byzas was the son of a local nymph , while others say he was conceived by one of Zeus' daughters and Poseidon . Hesychius also gives alternate versions of the city's founding legend, which he attributed to old poets and writers: It is said that the first Argives, after having received this prophecy from Pythia,     Blessed are those who will inhabit that holy city,     a narrow strip of

12282-741: The famed Baths of Zeuxippus . At the western entrance to the Augustaeum was the Milion , a vaulted monument from which distances were measured across the Eastern Roman Empire. From the Augustaeum led a great street, the Mese , lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the Praetorium or law-court. Then it passed through

12420-401: The first Byzantine cathedral, Hagia Irene (Holy Peace). Justinian commissioned Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus to replace it with a new and incomparable Hagia Sophia . This was the great cathedral of the city, whose dome was said to be held aloft by God alone, and which was directly connected to the palace so that the imperial family could attend services without passing through

12558-569: The flower of the Roman armies were destroyed by the Visigoths within a few days' march, the city looked to its defences, and in 413–414 Theodosius II built the 18-metre (60-foot)-tall triple-wall fortifications , which were not to be breached until the coming of gunpowder. Theodosius also founded a University near the Forum of Taurus, on 27 February 425. Uldin , a prince of the Huns , appeared on

12696-497: The front and grown long at the back, and wide-sleeved tunics tight at the wrist; and to form gangs to engage in night-time muggings and street violence. At last these disorders took the form of a major rebellion of 532, known as the "Nika" riots (from the battle-cry of "Conquer!" of those involved). The Nika Riots began in the Hippodrome and finished there with the onslaught of over 30,000 people according to Procopius, those in

12834-544: The genitive of boûs βοῦς 'ox, cattle' + poros πόρος 'passage', thus meaning 'cattle-passage', or 'cow passage'. This is a reference to the Greek mythological story of Io , who was transformed into a cow and condemned to wander the Earth until she crossed the Bosporus, where she met the Titan Prometheus , who comforted her by telling her that she would be restored to human form by Zeus and become

12972-546: The greatest of all heroes, Heracles (Hercules). According to ancient Greek mythology , it was said that colossal floating rocks known as the Symplegades , or Clashing Rocks, once guarded both sides of the Bosporus and destroyed any ship that attempted to pass through the strait by crushing them. Their destructive power was finally overcome by the Argonaut hero Jason who managed to pass between them unscathed, whereupon

13110-494: The greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon to be seen in its squares and streets. The emperor stimulated private building by promising householders gifts of land from the imperial estates in Asiana and Pontica and on 18 May 332 he announced that, as in Rome, free distributions of food would be made to the citizens. At the time, the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around

13248-648: The growth of the economy. It is certain that the Venetians and others were active traders in Constantinople, making a living out of shipping goods between the Crusader Kingdoms of Outremer and the West, while also trading extensively with Byzantium and Egypt . The Venetians had factories on the north side of the Golden Horn, and large numbers of westerners were present in the city throughout

13386-565: The hot, humid summer months. Most of these summer embassies were on the European shore at Yeniköy (Austrian), Tarabya (German, English, French, Italian) and Büyükdere (Spanish, Russian). Some of the buildings still survive today although the British Summer Embassy burnt down in 1911 and the Italian Summer Embassy, a fine building by Raimondo d'Aronco , survives in very dilapidated condition. Following

13524-698: The invaders poured in. Alexios V fled. The Senate met in Hagia Sophia and offered the crown to Theodore Lascaris , who had married into the Angelos dynasty , but it was too late. He came out with the Patriarch to the Golden Milestone before the Great Palace and addressed the Varangian Guard . Then the two of them slipped away with many of the nobility and embarked for Asia. By the next day

13662-489: The last of the Karaite sages of Constantinople wrote an abridgment of the "Aderet Eliyahu" in 1860, named "Yeriot Shelomo". There were close relations (though not always appreciative) between the Rabbanite and Karaite "Romaniotes" of Constantinople, as can be seen in the exchange of piyyutim for their liturgies, which went both ways, but consisted mostly of Karaite borrowings from the Rabbanite liturgical repertoire. It

13800-518: The late 11th century catastrophe struck with the unexpected and calamitous defeat of the imperial armies at the Battle of Manzikert in Armenia in 1071. The Emperor Romanus Diogenes was captured. The peace terms demanded by Alp Arslan , sultan of the Seljuk Turks, were not excessive, and Romanus accepted them. On his release, however, Romanus found that enemies had placed their own candidate on

13938-504: The late Roman and early Byzantine periods, Christianity was resolving fundamental questions of identity, and the dispute between the orthodox and the monophysites became the cause of serious disorder, expressed through allegiance to the chariot-racing parties of the Blues and the Greens. The partisans of the Blues and the Greens were said to affect untrimmed facial hair, head hair shaved at

14076-475: The latest, the fall of the Severan dynasty in 235. Byzantium took on the name of Constantinople ( Greek : Κωνσταντινούπολις, romanized : Kōnstantinoupolis; "city of Constantine") after its refoundation under Roman emperor Constantine I , who transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium in 330 and designated his new capital officially as Nova Roma ( Νέα Ῥώμη ) 'New Rome'. During this time,

14214-731: The oval Forum of Constantine where there was a second Senate-house and a high column with a statue of Constantine himself in the guise of Helios , crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking toward the rising sun. From there, the Mese passed on and through the Forum Tauri and then the Forum Bovis , and finally up the Seventh Hill (or Xerolophus) and through to the Golden Gate in the Constantinian Wall . After

14352-472: The people rose again: Alexios IV was imprisoned and executed, and Murzuphlos took the purple as Alexios V Doukas . He made some attempt to repair the walls and organise the citizenry, but there had been no opportunity to bring in troops from the provinces and the guards were demoralised by the revolution. An attack by the Crusaders on 6 April failed, but a second from the Golden Horn on 12 April succeeded, and

14490-642: The religious processions of the clergy. He removed Theodora from the Great Palace to the Carian Palace and later to the monastery of Gastria , but, after the death of Bardas, she was released to live in the palace of St Mamas; she also had a rural residence at the Anthemian Palace, where Michael was assassinated in 867. In 860, an attack was made on the city by a new principality set up a few years earlier at Kiev by Askold and Dir , two Varangian chiefs: Two hundred small vessels passed through

14628-663: The remnants of the Library of Alexandria and had 100,000 volumes. The city was the home of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and guardian of Christendom 's holiest relics, such as the Crown of Thorns and the True Cross . Constantinople was famous for its massive and complex fortifications, which ranked among the most sophisticated defensive architectures of antiquity . The Theodosian Walls consisted of

14766-401: The removal of unpopular ministers. It played a crucial role during the riots and in times of political unrest. The Hippodrome provided a space for a crowd to be responded to positively or where the acclamations of a crowd were subverted, resorting to the riots that would ensue in coming years. In the time of Justinian, public order in Constantinople became a critical political issue. Throughout

14904-583: The result of prosperity Constantinople achieved as the gateway between two continents ( Europe and Asia ) and two seas (the Mediterranean and the Black Sea). Although besieged on numerous occasions by various armies, the defenses of Constantinople proved impenetrable for nearly nine hundred years. In 1204, however, the armies of the Fourth Crusade took and devastated the city, and for several decades, its inhabitants resided under Latin occupation in

15042-681: The rocks became fixed, opening Greek access to the Black Sea. The Bosporus is traversed by numerous passenger and vehicular ferries daily, as well as by recreational and fishing boats ranging from dinghies to yachts owned by both public and private entities. The Strait also serves a significant amount of international commercial shipping traffic in the form of freighters and tankers . Between its northern limits at Rumeli Feneri and Anadolu Feneri and its southern ones at Ahırkapı Feneri and Kadıköy İnciburnu Feneri , there are numerous dangerous points for large-scale maritime traffic that require sharp turns and management of visual obstructions. Famously,

15180-685: The ship of the commander Belisarius was anchored in front of the Imperial palace, and the Patriarch offered prayers for the success of the enterprise. After the victory, in 534, the Temple treasure of Jerusalem , looted by the Romans in AD ;70 and taken to Carthage by the Vandals after their sack of Rome in 455, was brought to Constantinople and deposited for a time, perhaps in the Church of St Polyeuctus , before being returned to Jerusalem in either

15318-466: The shores for many months. This hypothesis was supported by the findings of undersea explorer Robert Ballard , who discovered settlements along the old shoreline; scientists dated the flood to 7500 BP or 5500 BC from fresh-salt water microflora. Driven out by the rapidly rising water, which must have been terrifying and inexplicable, people spread to all corners of the Western world carrying the story of

15456-537: The strait include Chalcedonian Bosporus ( Bosporus Chalcedoniae , Βόσπορος τῆς Χαλκηδονίης [ Bosporos tes Khalkedonies ], Herodotus 4.87), or Mysian Bosporus ( Bosporus Mysius ). The term eventually came to be used as the common noun βόσπορος , meaning "a strait", and was also formerly applied to the Hellespont in Classical Greek by Aeschylus and Sophocles . As a maritime waterway,

15594-507: The strait is much older, even if relatively young on a geologic timescale. The limits of the Bosporus are defined as the line connecting the lighthouses of Rumeli Feneri and Anadolu Feneri in the north, and between the Ahırkapı Feneri and the Kadıköy İnciburnu Feneri in the south ("Fener" is Turkish for lighthouse). Between these limits, the strait is 31 km (17 nmi) long, with

15732-810: The strait was known as Prosphorion during his day, the name of the most ancient northern harbour of Constantinople . In English, the preferred spelling tends to be Bosphorus. Historically, the Bosporus was also known as the "Strait of Constantinople", or the Thracian Bosporus to distinguish it from the Cimmerian Bosporus in Crimea . These are expressed in Herodotus 's Histories , 4.83; as Bosporus Thracius , Bosporus Thraciae , and Βόσπορος Θρᾴκιος ( Bósporos Thráikios ), respectively. Other names used by Herodotus to refer to

15870-667: The straits area. The reversion was formalised under the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits of 20 July 1936. That convention - which is still in force - treats the straits as an international shipping lane except that Turkey retains the right to restrict the naval traffic of non–Black Sea states. Turkey was neutral in the Second World War until February 1945, and

16008-497: The straits were closed to the warships of belligerent nations during this time, although some German auxiliary vessels were permitted to transit. In diplomatic conferences, Soviet representatives had expressed an interest in obtaining naval bases on the straits. This, together with Stalin's demands for the restitution of the Turkish provinces of Kars , Artvin and Ardahan to the Soviet Union (which were lost by Turkey in

16146-466: The streets. "The architectural form of the building was meant to reflect Justinian programmatic harmony: the circular dome (a symbol of secular authority in classical Roman architecture) would be harmoniously combined with the rectangular form (typical for Christian and pre-Christian temples)." The dedication took place on 26 December 537 in the presence of the emperor, who was later reported to have exclaimed, "O Solomon , I have outdone thee!" Hagia Sophia

16284-402: The stretch between Kandilli Point and Aşiyan requires a 45-degree course alteration in a location where the currents can reach 7 to 8 knots (3.6 to 4.1 m/s). To the south, at Yeniköy , the necessary course alteration is 80 degrees. Compounding these difficult changes in trajectory, the rear and forward sight lines at Kandilli and Yeniköy are also completely blocked prior to and during

16422-465: The throne in his absence; he surrendered to them and suffered death by torture, and the new ruler, Michael VII Ducas, refused to honour the treaty. In response, the Turks began to move into Anatolia in 1073. The collapse of the old defensive system meant that they met no opposition, and the empire's resources were distracted and squandered in a series of civil wars. Thousands of Turkoman tribesmen crossed

16560-419: The title clarus , not clarissimus , like those of Rome. It also lacked the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food supply, police, statues, temples, sewers, aqueducts, or other public works. The new programme of building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors, and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the empire and moved to the new city. In similar fashion, many of

16698-479: The tradesmen of Constantinople were organised were supervised by the Eparch, who regulated such matters as production, prices, import, and export. Each guild had its own monopoly, and tradesmen might not belong to more than one. It is an impressive testament to the strength of tradition how little these arrangements had changed since the office, then known by the Latin version of its title, had been set up in 330 to mirror

16836-523: The unguarded frontier and moved into Anatolia. By 1080, a huge area had been lost to the Empire, and the Turks were within striking distance of Constantinople. Under the Komnenian dynasty (1081–1185), Byzantium staged a remarkable recovery. In 1090–91, the nomadic Pechenegs reached the walls of Constantinople, where Emperor Alexius I with the aid of the Kipchaks annihilated their army. In response to

16974-454: The urban prefecture of Rome. In the 9th and 10th centuries, Constantinople had a population of between 500,000 and 800,000. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the iconoclast movement caused serious political unrest throughout the Empire. The emperor Leo III issued a decree in 726 against images, and ordered the destruction of a statue of Christ over one of the doors of the Chalke, an act that

17112-414: The view. During Justinian I's reign, the city's population reached about 500,000 people. However, the social fabric of Constantinople was also damaged by the onset of the Plague of Justinian between 541 and 542 AD. It killed perhaps 40% of the city's inhabitants. In the early 7th century, the Avars and later the Bulgars overwhelmed much of the Balkans , threatening Constantinople with attack from

17250-487: The wealthiest provinces of the Empire. Constantinople was built over six years, and consecrated on 11 May 330. Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis. Yet, at first, Constantine's new Rome did not have all the dignities of old Rome. It possessed a proconsul , rather than an urban prefect . It had no praetors , tribunes , or quaestors . Although it did have senators, they held

17388-488: The west. Simultaneously, the Persian Sassanids overwhelmed the Prefecture of the East and penetrated deep into Anatolia . Heraclius , son of the exarch of Africa, set sail for the city and assumed the throne. He found the military situation so dire that he is said to have contemplated withdrawing the imperial capital to Carthage, but relented after the people of Constantinople begged him to stay. The citizens lost their right to free grain in 618 when Heraclius realized that

17526-399: Was a revival in the mosaic art, for example: Mosaics became more realistic and vivid, with an increased emphasis on depicting three-dimensional forms. There was an increased demand for art, with more people having access to the necessary wealth to commission and pay for such work. On 25 July 1197, Constantinople was struck by a severe fire which burned the Latin Quarter and the area around

17664-459: Was adopted by most of the Karaite congregations as the standard prayer-book, and that probably earned for him the epithet "ha-Kadosh" (the Saint). In order to settle the religious laws Elijah Bashyazi compiled a code entitled "Aderet Eliyahu" (The Mantle of Elijah). This code, which contained both the mandatory and prohibitory precepts, is rightly regarded by the Karaites as the greatest authority on those matters. Shlomo ben Afeda Ha-Kohen considered

17802-436: Was associated with strawberry-growing while Çengelköy was famous for its sweet cucumbers. As part of the only passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Bosporus has always been of great importance from a commercial and military point of view, and it remains strategically important today. It is a major sea access route for numerous countries, including Russia and Ukraine . Control over it has been an objective of

17940-420: Was fiercely resisted by the citizens. Constantine V convoked a church council in 754 , which condemned the worship of images, after which many treasures were broken, burned, or painted over with depictions of trees, birds or animals: One source refers to the church of the Holy Virgin at Blachernae as having been transformed into a "fruit store and aviary". Following the death of her husband Leo IV in 780,

18078-401: Was financed by a special tax on all the subjects of the Empire. Theodora, widow of the Emperor Theophilus (died 842), acted as regent during the minority of her son Michael III , who was said to have been introduced to dissolute habits by her brother Bardas. When Michael assumed power in 856, he became known for excessive drunkenness, appeared in the hippodrome as a charioteer and burlesqued

18216-460: Was founded by the Roman emperor Constantine I (272–337) in 324 on the site of an already-existing city, Byzantium , which was settled in the early days of Greek colonial expansion , in around 657 BC, by colonists of the city-state of Megara . This is the first major settlement that would develop on the site of later Constantinople, but the first known settlements was that of Lygos , referred to in Pliny's Natural Histories. Apart from this, little

18354-469: Was led by Jeff Peakall and Daniel Parsons at the University of Leeds , in collaboration with the University of Southampton , Memorial University of Newfoundland , and the Institute of Marine Sciences . The survey was run and coordinated from the Institute of Marine Sciences research ship, the R/V Koca Piri Reis . The shores of the Bosporus were once lined with small fishing villages that had grown up since Byzantine times but really came into their own in

18492-431: Was located), Pontus and Asia comparable to the 100-mile extraordinary jurisdiction of the prefect of Rome. The emperor Valens , who hated the city and spent only one year there, nevertheless built the Palace of Hebdomon on the shore of the Propontis near the Golden Gate , probably for use when reviewing troops. All the emperors up to Zeno and Basiliscus were crowned and acclaimed at the Hebdomon. Theodosius I founded

18630-426: Was re-established by closing the Turkish Straits to all warships , barring those of the Sultan 's allies during wartime. This benefited British naval power at the expense of the Russians, as the latter then lacked direct access to the Mediterranean. During the 19th century many of the foreign powers represented in Constantinople maintained second embassies up the Bosporus and would relocate their staff there during

18768-438: Was served by 600 people including 80 priests, and cost 20,000 pounds of gold to build. Justinian also had Anthemius and Isidore demolish and replace the original Church of the Holy Apostles and Hagia Irene built by Constantine with new churches under the same dedication. The Justinianic Church of the Holy Apostles was designed in the form of an equal-armed cross with five domes, and ornamented with beautiful mosaics. This church

18906-427: Was to remain the burial place of the emperors from Constantine himself until the 11th century. When the city fell to the Turks in 1453, the church was demolished to make room for the tomb of Mehmet II the Conqueror. Justinian was also concerned with other aspects of the city's built environment, legislating against the abuse of laws prohibiting building within 100 ft (30 m) of the sea front, in order to protect

19044-434: Was unable to make good the rewards he had promised to his western allies. Tension between the citizens and the Latin soldiers increased. In January 1204, the protovestiarius Alexios Murzuphlos provoked a riot, it is presumed, to intimidate Alexios IV, but whose only result was the destruction of the great statue of Athena Promachos , the work of Phidias , which stood in the principal forum facing west. In February 1204,

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