Constantinople (Istanbul)
Constantinople is present-day Istanbul (as of 1930) and is located on a peninsula at the Sea of Marmara. Constantinople was built in 324 by the Roman emperor Constantine to be the new capitol of the Roman Empire. It was built over the city of Byzantium. One of the major construction projects that went on at the time Constantinople was built was the massive architectural achievement of the Hagia Sophia. This church was built in the 6th century and was converted to a mosque in the 15th century and since then has been converted into a museum. The past of Istanbul was always geared to higher learning. Some of the institutions there include Istanbul University (1453), Istanbul Technical University (1773), Marmara University (1883), Yildiz University (1911), and the University of the Bosporus (1863). Also, the city of Istanbul showed to be very religious, the city alone was nearly 200 catholic churches.
The walls of Constantinople, built by Theodosius II in the fifth century, are still standing today. |
"The of Vladamir, painted in Constantinople and brought to Russia in the mid-twelfth century. It had a great influence on Russian icon painters. Only the faces in the icon are original. The rest was later overpainted. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow" -Nick Provatas |
For more information on the history of Constantinople, check out out Timeline article for the "Fall of Constantinople".
Sources for further information outside of our site
"Hellenic Electronic
Center"
http://www.greece.org/ Note: Does
not specifically cover Constantinople, bur rather concentrates on Greek subjects
"Council of
Constantinople"
http://www.clinch.edu/history/wciv1/civ1ref/const.html
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Pictures on this page used by permission of Nick Provatas
