Ligos, Byzantium, Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul - as soon as this ancient city was not called! And with each name, his appearance, his character changed dramatically. The new owners of the city equipped it in their own manner.
Pagan temples became Byzantine churches, and those, in turn, turned into mosques. What is modern Istanbul - an Islamic feast on the bones of deceased civilizations or organic interpenetration of different cultures? We will try to find out in this article.
We will tell the amazingly exciting history of this city, which was destined to become the capital of the three superpowers - the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. But is there at least something from the ancient polis?
Should a traveler come to Istanbul in search of Constantinople, that same Constantinople from which the baptists of Kievan Rus came? Let's live all the milestones in the history of this Turkish metropolis, which will reveal all its secrets to us.
Base Byzantium
As you know, the ancient Greeks were a very restless people. They plowed the ships of the Mediterranean, Ionian, Adriatic, Marmara and Black Seas, and mastered the coast, establishing new settlements there. So in the 8th century BC, Chalkedon, Perintos, Selimbria and Astak appeared on the territory of modern Istanbul (formerly Constantinople).
Regarding the foundation in 667 BC. e. the city of Byzantium, which later gave the name of the whole empire, there is an interesting legend. According to her, King Vizas, the son of the sea god Poseidon and the daughter of Zeus Keroessa went to the Delphic oracle to ask him where to lay his city-state. The soothsayer asked Apollo a question, and he gave this answer: "Build a city opposite the blind."
Wizas interpreted these words as follows. It was necessary to establish a policy directly opposite Chalkedon, which had arisen thirteen years earlier on the Asian coast of the Sea of Marmara. The strong current did not allow building a port there. The king considered this shortsightedness of the founders as a sign of political blindness.
Antique Byzantium
Located on the European coast of the Sea of Marmara, the policy, initially called Ligos, was able to acquire a convenient port. This spurred the development of trade and crafts. Named after the death of the king in honor of its founder Byzantium, the city controlled the passage of ships through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea.
Thus, he kept a “finger on the pulse” of all trade ties between Greece and its remote colonies. But the extremely favorable location of the policy also had a negative side. It made Byzantium the "apple of discord."
The city was constantly captured: the Persians (Tsar Darius in 515 BC), the tyrant of Chalcedon Ariston, the Spartans (403 BC). Nevertheless, the siege policy, war and the change of power had little effect on the economic prosperity of the siege policy. Already in the 5th century BC, the city expanded so that it occupied the Asian coast of the Bosphorus, including the territory of Chalkedon.
In 227 BC e. Galatians, immigrants from Europe, settled there. In the 4th century BC e. Byzantium (future Constantinople and Istanbul) receives autonomy, and the alliance with Rome allows the polis to strengthen its power. But the city-state could not maintain independence for long, about 70 years (from 146 to 74 BC).
Roman period
Entering the empire only benefited the economy of Byzantium (as they began to call it in the Latin way). For nearly 200 years, it has grown peacefully on both banks of the Bosphorus. But at the end of the 2nd century AD, the civil war in the Roman Empire put an end to its prosperity.
Byzantium supported the party of Guy Pescennius of Niger, the current ruler. Because of this, the city was besieged and three years later taken by the troops of the new emperor, Lucius Septimius Severus. The latter ordered to destroy to the foundation all the fortifications of the ancient policy, and at the same time canceled all its trade privileges.
A traveler who arrives in Istanbul (Constantinople) can only see the antique hippodrome remaining from that time. It is located on Sultanahmet Square, right between the two main shrines of the city - the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. And the monument of that period is the Valenta aqueduct, which began to be built during the reign of Hadrian (2nd century A.D.).
Having lost its fortifications, Byzantium began to be subjected to raids by barbarians. Without trade privileges and a port, its economic growth stopped. Residents began to leave the city. Byzantium shrank to its original size. That is, he occupied a high cape between the Sea of Marmara and Golden Horn Bay.
History of Constantinople (Istanbul)
But the Byzantium was not destined to vegetate for a long time as a backwater in the outskirts of the empire. Emperor Constantine the First Great noted the extremely favorable location of the town on the cape, controlling the passage from the Black to the Sea of Marmara.
He ordered the strengthening of the Byzantium, the construction of new roads, and the construction of beautiful administrative buildings. At first, the emperor did not even think of leaving his capital, Rome. But the tragic events in his personal life (Konstantin executed the son of Crispus and his wife Faustus) forced him to leave the Eternal City and go east. It was this fact that made him pay closer attention to Byzantium.
In 324, the emperor ordered the construction of the city to begin on a grand scale. Six years later, on May 11, 330, the official consecration ceremony of the New Rome took place. Almost immediately, a second name is attached to the city - Constantinople.
Istanbul during the reign of this emperor was transformed. Thanks to the Edict of Milan, the pagan temples of the city were untouched, but Christian shrines began to be erected, in particular the Church of the Holy Apostles.
Constantinople during the reign of subsequent emperors
Rome suffered more and more from the raids of the barbarians. On the borders of the empire was restless. Therefore, the successors of Constantine the Great preferred to consider New Rome their residence. Under the young emperor Theodosius Second, the prefect Flavius Anfemy ordered to strengthen the capital.
In 412-414, new walls of Constantinople were erected. Fragments of these fortifications (in the western part) are still preserved in Istanbul. The walls stretched for five and a half kilometers, encircling the territory of New Rome in 12 square meters. km 96 towers towered 18 meters along the perimeter of the fortifications. And the walls themselves still amaze with their impregnability.
Even Constantine the Great ordered to erect a family tomb near the Church of the Holy Apostles (in which he was buried). This emperor restored the Hippodrome, erected baths and cisterns, allowing the accumulation of water for the needs of the city. At the time of Theodosius the Second, Constantinople included seven hills - as many as in Rome.
The capital of the Eastern Empire
Since 395, internal contradictions in the once powerful superpower led to a split. Theodosius the First divided his possessions between the sons Honorius and Arkady. The Western Roman Empire de facto ceased to exist in 476.
But its eastern part was not affected by the barbarian raids. She continued to exist under the name of the Roman Empire. Thus, continuity with Rome was emphasized. The inhabitants of this empire were called Romans. But later, along with the official name, the word Byzantium began to be used more and more often.
Constantinople (Istanbul) gave its ancient name to the whole empire. All subsequent rulers left a significant mark on the architecture of the city, erecting new public buildings, palaces, churches. But the "golden age" of Byzantine Constantinople is considered the period from 527 to 565 years.
Justinian City
In the fifth year of the reign of this emperor, a riot broke out - the largest in the history of the city. This rebellion, dubbed the Nika, was brutally crushed. 35 thousand people were executed.
Rulers know that along with repressions, it is necessary to somehow reassure subjects by arranging either a victorious blitzkrieg or undertaking mass construction. Justinian chose the second path. The city is turning into a large construction site.
The emperor called to New Rome the best architects of the country. It was then that just in five years (from 532 to 537 gg.) St. Sophia Cathedral was built in Constantinople (or Istanbul). The Blachernae quarter was demolished, and new fortifications appeared in its place.
Justinian did not forget himself, having ordered the construction of an imperial palace in Constantinople. The period of his reign includes the construction of the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus.
After the death of Justinian, Byzantium began to experience difficult times. The years of rule of Foki and Heraclius weakened her internally, and the siege of the Avars, Persians, Arabs, Bulgarians and Eastern Slavs undermined her military power. Religious feuds did not benefit the capital either.
The struggle of iconoclasts and admirers of holy faces often ended with the looting of churches. But with all this, the population of New Rome exceeded a hundred thousand people, which was more than any major European city of those times.
The period of the Macedonian dynasty and the Comnenos
From 856 to 1185 Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) is experiencing an unprecedented heyday. The first university, the Higher School, appears in the city, arts and crafts flourish. True, this "golden age" was also overshadowed by various problems.
From the 11th century, Byzantium began to lose its possessions in Asia Minor due to the invasion of the Seljuk Turks. Nevertheless, the capital of the empire flourished. A traveler who is interested in the history of the Middle Ages should pay attention to the preserved frescoes in Hagia Sophia, which depicts representatives of the Komnin dynasty, as well as visit the Blachernae Palace.
It should be said that at that time the city center shifted to the west, closer to the defensive walls. Western European cultural influence has become more felt in the city, mainly due to the Venetian and Genoese merchants who settled at the Galata Tower.
Taking a walk around Istanbul in search of Constantinople, you should visit the monastery of Christ Pantocrator, as well as the church of the Virgin Mary of Kyriotissa, Theodore, Theodosius, the Virgin of Pammakristi, Jesus Pantepopt. All these temples were erected at the Comnenus.
Latin period and Turkish conquest
In 1204, Pope Innocent III declared the Fourth Crusade. The European army stormed the city and completely burned it. Constantinople became the capital of the so-called Latin Empire.
The occupation regime of the Baldwin of the Flanders did not last long. The Greeks regained power again, and a new dynasty of Paleologists settled in Constantinople. It was run primarily by the Genoese and Venetians, forming the almost autonomous Galata quarter.
The city with them turned into a large shopping center. But they neglected the military defense of the capital. Ottoman Turks did not fail to take advantage of this circumstance. In 1452, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror builds the Rumelihisar fortress on the European shore of the Bosphorus (north of the modern Bebek district).
And it doesn’t matter what year Constantinople became Istanbul. The fate of the city was a foregone conclusion with the construction of this fortress. Constantinople could no longer resist the Ottomans and was taken on May 29, 1453. The body of the last Greek emperor was buried with honors, and his head was put on public display at the Hippodrome.
Capital of the ottoman empire
It is difficult to say for sure when Constantinople became Istanbul, since the new masters retained its old name outside the city. True, they changed it into the Turkish way. Konstantiniye became the capital of the Ottoman Empire, because the Turks wanted to position themselves as the "Third Rome".
At the same time, another name more often began to sound in everyday life - “Is Tanbul”, which in the local dialect simply means “in the city”. Of course, Sultan Mehmed ordered to turn all the churches of the city into mosques. But Constantinople only flourished under the rule of the Ottomans. After all, their empire was powerful, and the wealth of the conquered peoples "settled" in the capital.
Konstantiniye got new mosques. The most beautiful of them - built by the architect Sinan Suleymaniye-Jami - rises in the old part of the city, in the district of Vef.
On the site of the Roman forum Theodosius, the Eski Sarai Palace was built, and on the Byzantium Acropolis - Topkapi, which served as the residence for 25 rulers of the Ottoman Empire, who lived there for four centuries. In the 17th century, Ahmed the First ordered the construction of the Blue Mosque opposite Hagia Sophia, another beautiful shrine of the city.
The decline of the Ottoman Empire
For Constantinople, the "golden age" fell on the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. This sultan led both an aggressive and wise domestic state policy. But his successors are gradually starting to lose ground.
The empire is expanding geographically, but poor infrastructure does not allow for communication between the provinces, which come under the authority of local governors. Selim the Third, Mehmet the Second and Abdul-Majid are trying to introduce reforms that are clearly insufficient and do not meet the demands of the times.
However, Turkey still wins the Crimean War. In those days, when Constantinople was renamed to Istanbul (but only informally), many buildings were built in the city in a European manner. And the sultans themselves ordered to build a new palace - Domlabahçe.
This building, reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance palazzo, can be seen on the European side of the city, on the border of the Cabatas and Besiktas districts. In 1868, the Galatosaray Lyceum opens, two years later - the university. Then the city acquired a tram line.
And in 1875, the metro “Tunnel” even appeared in Istanbul. After 14 years, the capital became connected to other cities by rail. The legendary "Orient Express" from Paris arrived here.
Republic of Turkey
But the rule of the sultanate did not meet the needs of the era. In 1908, a revolution took place in the country. But the "Young Turks" dragged the state into World War I on the side of Germany, as a result of which Constantinople was captured by the troops of France and Great Britain.
As a result of the new revolution, Mustafa Kemal comes to power, whom the Turks still consider the "father of the nation." He transfers the capital of the country to the city of Angora, which he renames Ankara. It's time to talk about the year in which Constantinople became Istanbul. This happened on March 28, 1930.
It was then that the "Law on Mail" came into force, which forbade the use of the name Constantinople in letters (and in official documents). But, again, the name Istanbul existed back in the days of the Ottoman Empire.