Constantinople is the name of which city. New Rome - Constantinople - Constantinople
If you want to find Constantinople on a modern geographical map, you will fail. The thing is that since 1930 such a city has not existed. By decision of the new government of the Turkish Republic, founded in 1923, the city of Constantinople ( former capital Ottoman Empire) was renamed. Its modern name is Istanbul.
Why was Constantinople called Constantinople? Amazing story The city dates back more than one millennium. During this period, it underwent many changes, having been the capital of three empires at once: Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman. It is not surprising that he had to change names more than once. The very first name assigned to it in history is Byzantium. The modern name of Constantinople is Istanbul.
Constantinople was perceived by Russian people as the center of Orthodoxy. Soon after the adoption of Christianity in Russian culture, a systematic sacralization (imbuing with sacred meaning) of the image of Constantinople occurs.
It is precisely the image of Constantinople in the Russians folk tales inspired by the idea of a strange overseas country with its magic and all kinds of wonders.
Vladimir's marriage to a Byzantine princess led to the establishment of cultural and spiritual ties with Constantinople. Constantinople played an extremely positive role in the development of Russian society, as business and cultural contacts led to a leap in the development of icon painting, architecture, literature, art and social science.
By order of Vladimir, magnificent cathedrals were built in Kyiv, Polotsk and Novgorod, which are exact copies St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople.
At the main entrance to Vladimir and Kiev, golden gates were installed, created by analogy with the golden gates that opened during the solemn ceremonies of the meeting of the Byzantine emperors.
Etymological information
The etymology of the word “king” is interesting. It came from the name of the Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar. The word "Caesar" became a mandatory part of the title of all rulers of the empire: both in the early and late later its existence. The use of the prefix “Caesar” symbolized the continuity of power that passed to the new emperor from the legendary Julius Caesar.
In Roman culture, the concepts of “king” and “Caesar” are not identical: in early stages During the existence of the Roman state, the king was called the word “rex” and performed the duties of the high priest, justice of the peace and leader of the army. He was not endowed with unlimited power and most often represented the interests of the community that chose him as its leader.
End of the Byzantine Empire
On May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror took Constantinople after a 53-day siege. The last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, having defended a prayer service in the St. Sophia Cathedral, fought valiantly in the ranks of the city’s defenders and died in battle.
The capture of Constantinople meant the end of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople became the capital of the Ottoman state and was initially called Constantine, and then was renamed Istanbul.
In Europe and Russia the city is called Istanbul, which is a distorted form of the Turkish name.
Constantinople, Istanbul Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Constantinople noun, number of synonyms: 6 Byzantium (3) mountains ... Synonym dictionary
- (Byzantium; in medieval Russian texts Constantinople), the capital of the Roman Empire (from 330), then the Byzantine Empire. See Istanbul... Modern encyclopedia
- (Constantinople) capital of the Byzantine Empire. Founded by Constantine I in 324 330 on the site of the city of Byzantium. In 1204 it became the capital of the Latin Empire. Recaptured by the Byzantines in 1261. In 1453 taken by the Turks, renamed Istanbul... Big encyclopedic Dictionary
See Byzantium. (Source: " Brief dictionary mythology and antiquities." M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, published by A. S. Suvorin, 1894.) ... Encyclopedia of Mythology
Istanbul Geographical names world: Toponymic dictionary. M: AST. Pospelov E.M. 2001... Geographical encyclopedia
Constantinople- (Constantinople), a city in Turkey (modern Istanbul), originally Byzantine, founded in 657 BC. like Greek the colony. In the beginning. 4th century AD Constantine I the Great chose it as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, preferring the one located nearby... ... The World History
Constantinople- (ancient Byzantium, Slavic Constantinople, Turkish Istanbul), capital of the Ottoman Empire, on the Thracian Bosphorus, 1,125 thousand inhabitants; has Ukrainian, military. harbor and arsenal. Located in an amphitheater on the berth. bays of the Golden Horn. Natural conditions and... ... Military encyclopedia
Constantinople- (Byzantium; in medieval Russian texts Constantinople), the capital of the Roman Empire (from 330), then the Byzantine Empire. See Istanbul. ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Constantinople) 1. Muslim conquests The city was besieged in 668 by Arabs led by Abu Sufyan, the military commander of Caliph Mu'awiya. The Muslim fleet passed through the Hellespont unhindered, but the attack on the city faced fierce... ... Encyclopedia of Battles of World History
I (Greek Κωνσταντινουπολις, ancient Βυζαντιον, Latin Byzantium, ancient Russian folk. Tsaregrad, Serb. Tsarigrad, Czech. Cařihrad, Polish. Carogród, Turkish. Stanbol [pron. Stam boulevard or Istanbul], Arabic Constantiniye, Italian. common people and... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron
Books
- Constantinople. Album of species. Constantinople, 1880s. Edition "Deutsche Buch- und Steindruckerei Papier- und Kunsthandlung F. Loeffler". Album with 29 color lithographs. Typographic binding. Safety...
- Constantinople, D. Essad. Reprinted edition using print-on-demand technology from the original of 1919. Reproduced in the original author’s spelling of the 1919 edition (publishing house M. and S. Sabashnikov Publishing).…
Constantinople (Tsargrad) is one of the ancient capitals of the world. Constantinople is the disappeared capital of the disappeared state - the Byzantine Empire (Byzantium). Monuments of Byzantine architecture, which are located in, remind us of the former greatness of Constantinople.
Constantinople (Tsargrad)- the capital of the Roman Empire, then the Byzantine Empire - a state that arose in 395 with the collapse of the Roman Empire in its eastern part. The Byzantines themselves called themselves Romans - in Greek “Romeans”, and their state “Romean”.
Where is Constantinople? In May 1453 Turkish troops captured the capital of Byzantium. Constantinople was renamed Istanbul and became. Thus, the ancient capital of Byzantium, Constantinople, disappeared from the political map of the world, but the city did not cease to exist in reality. On political map appeared instead of Constantinople.
Founding of Constantinople. Constantinople (Tsargrad of medieval Russian texts) was founded by the Roman emperor Constantine I (306 - 337) in 324 - 330. on the site that arose around 660 BC. e. on the European shore of the Bosphorus Strait of the Megarian colony of Byzantium (hence the name of the state, introduced by humanists after the fall of the empire).
Transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople. The transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople, which officially took place on May 11, 330, was due to its proximity to the rich eastern provinces, favorable trade and military-strategic position, and the absence of opposition to the emperor from the Senate. Constantinople, a major economic and Cultural Center, did not escape mass popular uprisings (the most significant - “Nika”, 532).
The rise of Constantinople. Constantinople under Justinian I (527 - 565). Statues of Justinian in Constantinople. The heyday of Constantinople is associated with Emperor Justinian I. There were many statues dedicated to him in the capital, but they have not survived and are known only from descriptions. One of them represented the emperor on horseback in the image of Achilles (543 - 544, bronze). The statue itself and raised right hand Justinian was addressed to the East as a “challenge” and a warning to the Persians; in the left, the emperor held a ball with a cross - one of the attributes of the power of the basileus, a symbol of the power of Byzantium. The statue was located in the Forum Augusteon, between the gates Grand Palace and the temple of St. Sofia.
Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The meaning of the name of the temple. The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople - the most famous temple of Byzantium - was built by the architects Anthimius of Thrales and Isidore of Miletus on the orders of Justinian I in five years, and on December 26, 537 the temple was consecrated. “Hagia Sophia” means “holy wisdom,” which in theological terminology means “holy spirit.” The temple was not dedicated to a saint named Sophia; it is a synonym for “divine wisdom”, “the word of God”.
Architecture of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Interior decoration of the temple. Mosaics of Hagia Sophia. The architectural image of Hagia Sophia symbolically brings it closer to the image of the universe. Like the firmament, it seems to “hang” down from an invisible point located outside the world. According to the Byzantine writer Procopius of Caesarea (5th - 6th centuries), the dome of the Church of Hagia Sophia “seems... like a golden hemisphere lowered from the sky.” The interior decoration of the temple is remarkable. In 867, the apse of the Church of Hagia Sophia was decorated with the figure of a seated Mother of God with Child and two archangels. The face of the Mother of God is imbued with ancient sensuality, not Byzantine asceticism, and at the same time with spirituality. 
The entrance to the temple was preceded by a mosaic scene (late 11th century), in which Emperor Leo VI the Wise (866 - 912) was represented kneeling before Christ. So he fell on his face every time during the ceremony of his entry into the cathedral. The ritual nature of the scene is expressed in its very idea - to convey the connection between the emperor and God. The Emperor bowed before Christ as his earthly successor.
Interesting fact about the mosaics of Hagia Sophia. The mosaics of the Hagia Sophia are a source for studying the everyday history of the Byzantine imperial court. On a 12th century mosaic. Empress Irina looks impassive, depicted according to the fashion of the time, her face is covered with a thick layer of makeup, her eyebrows are shaved, her cheeks are heavily rouged.
Constantinople in the 7th - 11th centuries. Hippodrome in Constantinople. Bronze quadriga of the imperial box at the hippodrome. Despite the economic decline that Byzantium experienced from the end of the 7th century, the economic importance of the capital increased. Since most of the Byzantine cities became agrarian, trade and craft activities were concentrated mainly in Constantinople. Until the end of the 11th century. he dominated the country politically and economically. The Basileus decorated their capital with numerous statues in the squares, memorials triumphal arches and columns, temples and places of entertainment. 
Thus, the imperial box at the hippodrome (length - 400 m, width about 120 m, accommodated up to 120 thousand spectators) was decorated with a bronze quadriga, which was later transported to Venice, where it still stands above the portal of the Cathedral of St. Brand. Arab geographer of the 11th century. Idrizi reports that at the hippodrome, in addition to the famous quadriga, there were also very vividly executed bronze statues of people, bears and lions in two rows, and there were also two obelisks. And the Europeans “looked at the imperial Game as a miracle when they saw it.”
Capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204 In 12 Art. The decline of the city's crafts and trade began, due to the penetration of Italian merchants into Constantinople, who settled in one of its districts - Galata. In April 1204, Constantinople was taken and plundered by participants in the IV Crusade (1202 - 1204). Only from the Church of Hagia Sophia, as an eyewitness of the events reports, were “sacred vessels, objects of extraordinary art and extreme rarity, silver and gold, with which the pulpits, porches and gates were lined,” were taken away. Getting excited, the crusaders, the Knights of Christ, forced naked women to dance on the main throne, writes an eyewitness, and brought mules and horses into the church to take out the loot.
Constantinople is the capital of the Latin Empire. In the same year, 1204, the city became the capital of the Latin Empire created by the crusaders (1204 - 1261), economic dominance in it passed to the Venetians.
Constantinople in 1261 - 1453 The Byzantines' perception of Islam. In July 1261, the Byzantines, supported by the Genoese, recaptured the city. Until the middle of the 14th century. Constantinople remained large shopping center, then gradually fell into disrepair, key positions in it were captured by the Venetians and Genoese.
From the end of the 14th century. The Turks tried to take possession of the capital more than once. And at the same time, the Byzantines were reserved towards Islam. Mosques and Islamic mausoleums were erected in Constantinople and under its walls. And the Byzantines themselves at first thought that Islam was a kind of Christian heresy, that it was not much different from Nestorianism and Monophysitism, ideological movements in the eastern provinces of the empire.
Capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 Architectural monuments of the Byzantine era in Istanbul - former Constantinople. In May 1453, after a long siege, Turkish troops occupied the city. 
Constantinople was renamed to From Byzantine times, modern Istanbul has preserved the remains of fortress walls, fragments of imperial palaces, a hippodrome, and underground cisterns. Most of the religious buildings were adapted for mosques: the Church of Hagia Sophia today is the Hagia Sophia Mosque, the Basilica of St. John the Studite (Emir Akhor-jamisi, 5th century). Church of St. Irene (532, rebuilt in the 6th - 8th centuries), St. Sergius and Bacchus (Kyuchuk Hagia Sophia, 6th century), St. Andrew (Khoja Mustafa-jami, 7th century), St. Theodosius (Gul-jami, second half of the 9th century), Mireleyon (Budrum-jami, first half of the 10th century), St. Fedora (Kilise-jami, second half of the 11th - 14th centuries), the temple complex of Pantocrator (Zeyrek-jami, 12th century), the church of the Chora monastery (“outside the city walls”) - Kakhrie-jami (rebuilt in the 11th century, mosaics beginning of the 14th century).
With the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, its history, like the history of Byzantium, was over; the history of Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire was just beginning.
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755 years ago, on July 25, 1261, Michael VIII Palaiologos recaptured Constantinople from the Latins and again restored the Byzantine Empire. Yes, yes, its collapse was not a quick and not a “linear” process. It also happened that for some time the Basileus managed to “get theirs back,” and the extinction, the inevitable decline, could only be predicted “by thinking for centuries.” Historian Sergei Tsvetkov talks about the great city on the Bosphorus, which today continues to be at the epicenter of world news.
Editor LJ Media
Constantinople is a unique city in many respects. This is the only city in the world located simultaneously in Europe and Asia and one of the few modern megacities whose age is approaching three millennia. Finally, this is a city that has undergone four civilizations and as many names in its history.
First settlement and provincial period
Around 680 BC Greek settlers appeared on the Bosphorus. On the Asian shore of the strait they founded the colony of Chalcedon (now this is a district of Istanbul called “Kadikoy”). Three decades later, the town of Byzantium grew up opposite it. According to legend, it was founded by a certain Byzantus from Megara, to whom the Delphic oracle gave vague advice to “settle opposite the blind.” According to Byzant, the inhabitants of Chalcedon were these blind people, since they chose the distant Asian hills for settlement, and not the cozy triangle of European land located opposite.
From the blog Located at the crossroads of trade routes, Byzantium was a tasty prey for conquerors. Over several centuries, the city changed many owners - Persians, Athenians, Spartans, Macedonians. In 74 BC. Rome laid its iron fist on Byzantium. A long period of peace and prosperity began for the city on the Bosphorus. But in 193, during the next battle for the imperial throne, the inhabitants of Byzantium made a fatal mistake. They swore allegiance to one candidate, and the strongest was another - Septimius Severus. Moreover, Byzantium also persisted in its non-recognition of the new emperor. For three years, the army of Septimius Severus stood under the walls of Byzantium, until hunger forced the besieged to surrender. The enraged emperor ordered the city to be razed to the ground. However, the residents soon returned to their native ruins, as if sensing that their city had a brilliant future ahead of them.
Capital of the Empire
Let's say a few words about the man who gave Constantinople his name.
Constantine the Great dedicates Constantinople to the Mother of God. Mosaic, from the blog Emperor Constantine was already called “The Great” during his lifetime, although he was not distinguished by high morality. This, however, is not surprising, because his whole life was spent in a fierce struggle for power. He participated in several civil wars, during which he executed his son from his first marriage, Crispus, and his second wife, Fausta. But some of his statesmanship are truly worthy of the title “Great”. It is no coincidence that descendants did not spare marble, erecting gigantic monuments to it. A fragment of one such statue is kept in the Museum of Rome. The height of her head is two and a half meters.
From the blog In 324, Constantine decided to move the seat of government from Rome to the East. At first, he tried on Serdika (now Sofia) and other cities, but in the end he chose Byzantium. Constantine personally drew the boundaries of his new capital on the ground with a spear. To this day, in Istanbul you can walk along the remains of the ancient fortress wall built along this line.
From the blog In just six years, a huge city grew on the site of provincial Byzantium. It was decorated with magnificent palaces and temples, aqueducts and wide streets with rich houses of the nobility. New capital of the empire for a long time bore the proud name of “New Rome”. And only a century later, Byzantium New Rome was renamed Constantinople, "the city of Constantine."
Capital symbols
Constantinople is a city of secret meanings. Local guides will definitely show you the two main attractions of the ancient capital of Byzantium - Hagia Sophia and the Golden Gate. But not everyone will explain their secret meaning. Meanwhile, these buildings did not appear in Constantinople by chance.
Hagia Sophia and the Golden Gate clearly embodied medieval ideas about the wandering City, especially popular in the Orthodox East. It was believed that after ancient Jerusalem lost its providential role in the salvation of mankind, the sacred capital of the world moved to Constantinople. Now it was no longer the “old” Jerusalem, but the first Christian capital that personified the City of God, which was destined to stand until the end of time, and after the Last Judgment to become the abode of the righteous.
Reconstruction of the original view of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, from the blog In the first half of the 6th century, under Emperor Justinian I, the urban structure of Constantinople was brought into line with this idea. In the center of the Byzantine capital, the grandiose Cathedral of Sophia of the Wisdom of God was built, surpassing its Old Testament prototype - the Jerusalem Temple of the Lord. At the same time, the city wall was decorated with the ceremonial Golden Gate. It was assumed that at the end of time Christ would enter through them into God’s chosen city in order to complete the history of mankind, just as he once entered the Golden Gate of “old” Jerusalem to show people the path of salvation.
Golden Gate in Constantinople. Reconstruction, from the blog It was the symbolism of the City of God that saved Constantinople from total ruin in 1453. The Turkish Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror ordered not to touch Christian shrines. However, he tried to destroy their previous meaning. Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque, and the Golden Gate was walled up and rebuilt (as in Jerusalem).
Later, a belief arose among the Christian inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire that the Russians would liberate Christians from the yoke of infidels and enter Constantinople through the Golden Gate. The same ones to which Prince Oleg once nailed his scarlet shield.
Well, we'll wait and see.
It's time to blossom
The Byzantine Empire, and with it Constantinople, reached its greatest prosperity during the reign of Emperor Justinian I, who was in power from 527 to 565.
Bird's eye view of Constantinople during the Byzantine era. Reconstruction, from the blog Justinian is one of the most striking, and at the same time controversial figures on the Byzantine throne. An intelligent, powerful and energetic ruler, a tireless worker, the initiator of many reforms, he devoted his whole life to the implementation of his cherished idea of reviving the former power of the Roman Empire. Under him, the population of Constantinople reached half a million people, the city was decorated with masterpieces of church and secular architecture. But under the mask of generosity, simplicity and outward accessibility hid a merciless, two-faced and deeply insidious nature. Justinian drowned popular uprisings in blood, brutally persecuted heretics, and dealt with the rebellious senatorial aristocracy. Justinian's faithful assistant was his wife, Empress Theodora. In her youth she was a circus actress and courtesan, but, thanks to her rare beauty and extraordinary charm, she became an empress.
Justinian and Theodora. Mosaic, from the blog According to church tradition, Justinian was half Slavic by origin. Before his accession to the throne, he allegedly bore the name Upravda, and his mother was called Beglyanitsa. His homeland was the village of Verdyan, near Bulgarian Sofia.
Ironically, it was during the reign of Justinian that Constantinople was first attacked by the Slavs. In 558, their troops appeared in the immediate vicinity of the Byzantine capital. At that time, the city had only foot guards under the command of the famous commander Belisarius. To hide the small number of his garrison, Belisarius ordered felled trees to be dragged behind the battle lines. Thick dust arose, which the wind carried towards the besiegers. The trick was a success. Believing that a large army was moving towards them, the Slavs retreated without a fight. However, later Constantinople had to see Slavic squads under its walls more than once.
Home of sports fans
The Byzantine capital often suffered from pogroms of sports fans, as happens with modern European cities.
IN Everyday life For the Constantinople people, an unusually large role belonged to vibrant public spectacles, especially horse racing. The passionate commitment of the townspeople to this entertainment gave rise to the formation of sports organizations. There were four of them in total: Levki (white), Rusii (red), Prasina (green) and Veneti (blue). They differed in the color of the clothes of the drivers of the horse-drawn quadrigas who participated in competitions at the hippodrome. Conscious of their strength, Constantinople fans demanded various concessions from the government, and from time to time they organized real revolutions in the city.
The most formidable uprising, known as Nika! (i.e. “Conquer!”), broke out on January 11, 532. Spontaneously united followers of the circus parties attacked the residences of the city authorities and destroyed them. The rebels burned the tax rolls, captured the prison and released the prisoners. At the hippodrome, amid general rejoicing, the new Emperor Hypatius was solemnly crowned.
Panic began in the palace. The legitimate emperor Justinian I, in despair, intended to flee the capital. However, his wife Empress Theodora, appearing at a meeting of the imperial council, declared that she preferred death to loss of power. “The royal purple is a beautiful shroud,” she said. Justinian, ashamed of his cowardice, launched an attack on the rebels. His generals, Belisarius and Mundus, took charge large detachment barbarian mercenaries suddenly attacked the rebels in the circus and killed everyone. After the massacre, 35 thousand corpses were removed from the arena. Hypatius was publicly executed.
In short, now you see that our fans, compared to their distant predecessors, are just meek lambs.
Capital menageries
Every self-respecting capital strives to acquire its own zoo. Constantinople was no exception here. The city had a luxurious menagerie - a source of pride and concern for the Byzantine emperors. European monarchs knew only by hearsay about the animals that lived in the East. For example, giraffes in Europe have long been considered a cross between a camel and a leopard. It was believed that the giraffe inherited the common appearance, and from the other - coloring.
However, the fairy tale paled in comparison with real miracles. Thus, in the Great Imperial Palace in Constantinople there was a chamber of Magnaurus. There was a whole mechanical menagerie here. The ambassadors of European sovereigns who attended the imperial reception were amazed by what they saw. Here, for example, is what Liutprand, the ambassador of the Italian king Berengar, said in 949: “ In front of the emperor's throne stood a copper but gilded tree, the branches of which were filled with various kinds birds made of bronze and also gilded. The birds each uttered their own special melody, and the emperor’s seat was arranged so skillfully that at first it seemed low, almost at ground level, then somewhat higher and, finally, hanging in the air. The colossal throne was surrounded in the form of guards, copper or wooden, but, in any case, gilded lions, which madly beat their tails on the ground, opened their mouths, moved their tongues and emitted a loud roar. At my appearance, the lions roared, and the birds each sang their own melody. After I, according to custom, bowed before the emperor for the third time, I raised my head and saw the emperor in completely different clothes almost at the ceiling of the hall, while I had just seen him on the throne on the high altitude from the earth. I could not understand how this happened: he must have been lifted up by a machine».
From the blog By the way, all these miracles were observed in 957 by Princess Olga, the first Russian visitor to Magnavra.
Golden Horn
In ancient times, the Golden Horn Bay of Constantinople was of paramount importance in the defense of the city from attacks from the sea. If the enemy managed to break into the bay, the city was doomed.
From the blog Old Russian princes tried several times to attack Constantinople from the sea. But only once did the Russian army manage to penetrate the coveted bay.
In 911, the prophetic Oleg led a large Russian fleet on a campaign against Constantinople. To prevent the Russians from landing on the shore, the Greeks blocked the entrance to the Golden Horn with a heavy chain. But Oleg outwitted the Greeks. The Russian boats were placed on round wooden rollers and dragged into the bay. Then the Byzantine emperor decided that it was better to have such a person as a friend than an enemy. Oleg was offered peace and the status of an ally of the empire.
Miniature of the Ralziwill Chronicle, from the blog The Straits of Constantinople were also where our ancestors were first introduced to what we now call the superiority of advanced technology. On June 11, 941, hundreds of Prince Igor's boats blocked the city from the sea. The Byzantine fleet at this time was far from the capital, fighting with Arab pirates in the Mediterranean. The Byzantine Emperor Roman I had at hand only a dozen and a half ships, written off due to disrepair. Nevertheless, Roman decided to give battle. Siphons with “Greek fire” were installed on the half-rotten vessels. It was a flammable mixture based on natural oil.
From the blog Russian boats boldly attacked the Greek squadron, the very sight of which made them laugh. But suddenly, through the high sides of the Greek ships, fiery jets poured onto the heads of the Rus. The sea around the Russian ships seemed to suddenly burst into flames. Many rooks burst into flames at once. The Russian army was instantly seized by panic. Everyone was thinking only about how to get out of this hell as quickly as possible.
From the blog The Greeks won a complete victory. Byzantine historians report that Igor managed to escape with barely a dozen rooks.
Church schism
Ecumenical councils met in Constantinople more than once, saving Christian Church from destructive splits. But one day an event of a completely different kind occurred there.
On July 15, 1054, before the start of the service, Cardinal Humbert entered the Hagia Sophia, accompanied by two papal legates. Walking straight into the altar, he addressed the people with accusations against the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius. At the end of his speech, Cardinal Humbert placed the bull of excommunication on the throne and left the temple. On the threshold, he symbolically shook off the dust from his feet and said: “God sees and judges!” For a minute there was complete silence in the church. Then there was a general uproar. The deacon ran after the cardinal, begging him to take the bull back. But he took away the document handed to him, and the bulla fell onto the pavement. It was taken to the patriarch, who ordered the papal message to be published, and then excommunicated the papal legates themselves. The indignant crowd almost tore apart the envoys of Rome.
From the blog Generally speaking, Humbert came to Constantinople for a completely different matter. At the same time, Rome and Byzantium were greatly annoyed by the Normans who had settled in Sicily. Humbert was instructed to negotiate with the Byzantine emperor on joint action against them. But from the very beginning of the negotiations, the issue of confessional differences between the Roman and Constantinople churches came to the fore. The Emperor, who was extremely interested in the military-political assistance of the West, was unable to calm down the raging priests. The matter, as we have seen, ended badly - after mutual excommunication, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Pope no longer wanted to know each other.
Later, this event was called the “great schism”, or “division of the Churches” into Western - Catholic and Eastern - Orthodox. Of course, its roots lay much deeper than the 11th century, and the disastrous consequences did not appear immediately.
Russian pilgrims
Capital Orthodox world- Tsargrad (Constantinople) - was well known to the Russian people. Merchants from Kyiv and other cities of Rus' came here, pilgrims going to Mount Athos and the Holy Land stopped here. One of the districts of Constantinople - Galata - was even called the “Russian city” - so many Russian travelers lived here. One of them, Novgorodian Dobrynya Yadreikovich, left the most interesting historical evidence about the Byzantine capital. Thanks to his “Tale of Constantinople” we know how the crusader pogrom of 1204 found the thousand-year-old city.
Dobrynya visited Constantinople in the spring of 1200. He examined in detail the monasteries and churches of Constantinople with their icons, relics and relics. According to scientists, the “Tale of Constantinople” describes 104 shrines of the capital of Byzantium, and so thoroughly and accurately as none of the travelers of later times described them.
A very interesting story is about the miraculous phenomenon in the St. Sophia Cathedral on May 21, which, as Dobrynya assures, he personally witnessed. This is what happened that day: on Sunday before the liturgy, in front of the worshipers, a golden altar cross with three burning lamps miraculously rose into the air by itself, and then smoothly fell into place. The Greeks received this sign with jubilation, as a sign of God's mercy. But ironically, four years later, Constantinople fell to the Crusaders. This misfortune forced the Greeks to change their view on the interpretation of the miraculous sign: they now began to think that the return of the shrines to their place foreshadowed the revival of Byzantium after the fall of the Crusader state. Later, a legend arose that on the eve of the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, and also on May 21, the miracle was repeated, but this time the cross and lamps soared into the sky forever, and this already marked the final fall of the Byzantine Empire.
First surrender
At Easter 1204, Constantinople was filled only with groans and lamentations. For the first time in nine centuries, enemies - participants in the IV Crusade - were at work in the capital of Byzantium.
The call for the capture of Constantinople sounded at the end of the 12th century from the lips of Pope Innocent III. Interest in the Holy Land in the West at that time had already begun to cool. But the crusade against Orthodox schismatics was fresh. Few of the Western European sovereigns resisted the temptation to plunder the richest city in the world. Venetian ships, for a good bribe, delivered a horde of crusader thugs directly to the walls of Constantinople.
Crusaders storm the walls of Constantinople in 1204. Painting by Jacopo Tintoretto, 16th century, from the blog The city was stormed on Monday, April 13, and was subjected to total plunder. The Byzantine chronicler Niketas Choniates wrote indignantly that even “Muslims are kinder and more compassionate compared to these people who wear the sign of Christ on their shoulders.” Countless amounts of relics and precious church utensils were exported to the West. According to historians, to this day, up to 90% of the most significant relics in the cathedrals of Italy, France and Germany are shrines taken from Constantinople. The greatest of them is the so-called Shroud of Turin: the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, on which His face was imprinted. Now it is kept in the cathedral of Turin, Italy.
In place of Byzantium, the knights created the Latin Empire and a number of others state entities. In 1213, the papal legate closed all the churches and monasteries of Constantinople, and imprisoned the monks and priests. The Catholic clergy hatched plans for a real genocide of the Orthodox population of Byzantium. The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral, Claude Fleury, wrote that the Greeks “need to be exterminated and the country populated with Catholics.”
These plans, fortunately, were not destined to come true. In 1261, Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos retook Constantinople almost without a fight, ending Latin rule on Byzantine soil.
New Troy
At the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries, Constantinople experienced the longest siege in its history, comparable only to the siege of Troy. By that time, pitiful scraps remained of the Byzantine Empire - Constantinople itself and the southern regions of Greece. I took the rest Turkish Sultan Bayezid I. But independent Constantinople stuck out like a bone in his throat, and in 1394 the Turks took the city under siege.
Emperor Manuel II turned to the strongest sovereigns of Europe for help. Some of them responded to the desperate call from Constantinople. However, only money was sent from Moscow - the Moscow princes had enough of their worries with the Golden Horde. But the Hungarian king Sigismund boldly went on a campaign against the Turks, but on September 25, 1396 he was completely defeated in the battle of Nikopol. The French were somewhat more successful. In 1399, the commander Geoffroy Boukiko with one thousand two hundred soldiers broke into Constantinople, strengthening its garrison.
However, oddly enough, Tamerlane became the real savior of Constantinople. Of course, the great lame man least of all thought about pleasing the Byzantine emperor. He had his own scores to settle with Bayezid. In 1402, Tamerlane defeated Bayezid, captured him and put him in an iron cage.
Bayezid's son Sulim lifted the eight-year siege from Constantinople. At the negotiations that began after that, the Byzantine emperor managed to squeeze out of the situation even more than it could give at first glance. He demanded the return of a number of Byzantine possessions, and the Turks resignedly agreed to this. Moreover, Sulim took a vassal oath to the emperor. This was the last historical success of the Byzantine Empire - but what a success! Through the hands of others, Manuel II regained significant territories and ensured the Byzantine Empire another half-century of existence.
A fall
In the middle of the 15th century, Constantinople was still considered the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and its the last Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, ironically bore the name of the founder of the thousand-year-old city. But those were just miserable ruins once upon a time great empire. And Constantinople itself has long lost its metropolitan splendor. Its fortifications were dilapidated, the population huddled in dilapidated houses, and only individual buildings - palaces, churches, a hippodrome - reminded of its former greatness.
The Byzantine Empire in 1450, from the blog Such a city, or rather a historical ghost, was besieged on April 7, 1453 by the 150,000-strong army of the Turkish Sultan Mehmet II. 400 Turkish ships entered the Bosphorus Strait.
For the 29th time in its history, Constantinople was under siege. But never before has the danger been so great. Constantine Paleologus could oppose the Turkish armada with only 5,000 garrison soldiers and about 3,000 Venetians and Genoese who responded to the call for help.
Panorama "The Fall of Constantinople". Opened in Istanbul in 2009, from the blog The panorama depicts approximately 10 thousand participants in the battle. The total area of the canvas is 2,350 square meters. meters with a panorama diameter of 38 meters and a 20-meter height. Its location is also symbolic: not far from the Cannon Gate. It was next to them that a hole was made in the wall, which decided the outcome of the assault.
However, the first attacks from land did not bring success to the Turks. The attempt of the Turkish fleet to break through the chain blocking the entrance to the Golden Horn Bay also ended in failure. Then Mehmet II repeated the maneuver that had once brought Prince Oleg the glory of the conqueror of Constantinople. By order of the Sultan, the Ottomans built a 12-kilometer portage and dragged 70 ships along it to the Golden Horn. The triumphant Mehmet invited the besieged to surrender. But they replied that they would fight to the death.
On May 27, Turkish guns opened hurricane fire on the city walls, punching huge gaps in them. Two days later the final, general assault began. After a fierce battle in the breaches, the Turks burst into the city. Constantine Palaiologos fell in battle, fighting like a simple warrior.
Official video of the panorama “The Fall of Constantinople”
Despite the destruction caused, the Turkish conquest breathed life into the dying city new life. Constantinople turned into Istanbul - the capital of the new empire, the brilliant Ottoman Porte.
Loss of capital status
For 470 years, Istanbul was the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the spiritual center of the Islamic world, since the Turkish Sultan was also the caliph - the spiritual ruler of Muslims. But in the 20s of the last century, the great city lost its capital status - presumably forever.
From the blog The reason for this was the first World War, in which the dying Ottoman Empire was stupid to take the side of Germany. In 1918, the Turks suffered a crushing defeat from the Entente. In fact, the country lost its independence. The Treaty of Sèvres in 1920 left Turkey with only a fifth of its former territory. The Dardanelles and Bosporus were declared open straits and were subject to occupation along with Istanbul. The British entered the Turkish capital, while the Greek army captured the western part of Asia Minor.
However, there were forces in Turkey that did not want to come to terms with national humiliation. The national liberation movement was led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha. In 1920, he proclaimed the creation of a free Turkey in Ankara and declared the treaties signed by the Sultan invalid. At the end of August and beginning of September 1921, an incident occurred between the Kemalists and the Greeks. major battle on the Sakarya River (one hundred kilometers west of Ankara). Kemal won a convincing victory, for which he received the rank of marshal and the title "Gazi" ("Winner"). Entente troops were withdrawn from Istanbul, Türkiye received international recognition within its current borders.
Kemal's government carried out major reforms political system. Secular power was separated from religious power, the sultanate and caliphate were eliminated. The last Sultan, Mehmed VI, fled abroad. On October 29, 1923, Türkiye was officially declared a secular republic. The capital of the new state was moved from Istanbul to Ankara.
The loss of capital status did not remove Istanbul from the list of great cities in the world. Today it is the largest metropolis in Europe with a population of 13.8 million people and a booming economy.
