Constantinople
Constantinople (English: Constantinople) is the capital of the Roman state, and the capital of the Byzantine Empire. One of the most important and longest civilizations in history was built on Constantinople, which extended over more than a thousand years, and Constantinople witnessed many conquests and battles. The history of Constantinople dates back to the seventh century BC, when Constantinople proved its importance to all the civilizations upon which it was based.
Constantinople site
Constantinople is located on the Bosphorus Strait (currently the city of Istanbul), and it is the meeting place of the continents of Asia and Europe, and it is one of the few cities located on two continents. The city of Constantinople is a peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides, as it is bordered on the east by the Bosphorus Strait, on the south by the Sea of Marmara, on the north by what is called the Golden Horn, and on the west it is bordered by the continent of Europe.
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When the city was established, it was called Byzantium, a name given to it by the Greeks. When the city fell, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great came to it, and it is said that he changed its name to New Rome (Nova Rome) after he saw a prophetic dream, but the name was not accepted by the people. Over time, it became known as the city of Constantine, and in Arabic Constantinople, after its king.
History
Founding of Constantinople
The city of Constantinople was inhabited for the first time in the year 680 BC, when it was inhabited by the Migaras coming from Greece, and they called it Halkidon. After that, the city was subjected to many invasions and wars, and in the year 660 AD, the city was attacked by the Nicomedians who seized it, until the advent of the Roman Emperor Constantine, who restored it.
Read also:Where is toronto locatedIn the year 330 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great moved the capital of the Roman state to the city of Byzantium, where it was inhabited by the Romans. It became an economic and cultural center.
Byzantine era
In the year 337 AD, Constantine died, and Constantine II assumed power, and made the city a center for the Christian religion, where he established the largest churches in the world at that time, which is the Church of Hagia Sophia in 360 AD, which was burned, then rebuilt, and then converted. to a mosque.
Upon the death of Constantine II, his cousin Julian seized power, and worked to spread paganism in the city, erasing all traces of the Christian religion, but he did not succeed in doing so. Julian died in the year 363 AD during a battle with the Persians, and the city was then divided into two parts, where the brothers Valens and Valentinian I ruled, and Valens was weaker than his brother, and he died in the aftermath of the Battle of Adrianople in 378 AD, and the city became weak as a result of the war.
Theodosius I assumed power in the two parts of the city after Valens and Valentinian I, and in response to Julian he prevented paganism and made Christianity the official religion of the city, as well as preventing the Olympic Games at that time. In the year 408 AD, Theodosius II assumed power, rebuilt the Hagia Sophia Church, established a university in the city, and expanded the city walls in the year 413 AD for fear of the barbaric tide.
Read also:Where is Amsterdam locatedIslamic conquest
Islamic attempts to conquer the city and make it an Islamic capital began in the year 678-674 AD, but the Islamic conquest of Constantinople took place in the year 1452 AD under the leadership of Muhammad II, nicknamed Muhammad the Conqueror. The city is a center of European conspiracy against the Ottoman Empire and Muslims, and a major cause of many strife and civil wars, in addition to being a city with an important strategic location between the continents of Europe and Asia.
In preparation for the conquest of Constantinople, Muhammad al-Fatih concluded agreements with Venice, Genoa, and the Knights of Saint John in Rhodes so that the emperor of the city, Constantine XI, would not find an ally for him. The goods arrived in the Ottoman Empire, and he built large siege cannons, which were called the Royal Cannons. And when Emperor Constantine sent negotiators to prevent Muhammad al-Fateh from besieging the city, the latter cut off their heads, which authorized the outbreak of war.
The siege of the city continued for 45 days in the year 1453, when Muhammad Al-Fatih attacked the city from the north and west, and the royal cannons hit the city walls, and the Ottomans entered the city from Romanos Gate, and Emperor Constantine was killed, and the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople on May 29, 1453, and it was This conquest has very great effects on Arabs, Muslims and Europe as well.
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The city of Constantinople is the current city of Istanbul, and it is the capital of Turkey today. Istanbul is the Arabic name used by Arab writers in the seventeenth century, and it is derived from the word (Islambol), which means full of Islam. .
