| |
|
|
HISTORY
In the year 395, the great Roman Empire was divided into two parts. The Western Empire collapsed soon afterwards - in the 5 th century - whereas the Eastern Empire, called the Byzantine Empire by contemporary historians, continued to exist for more than a thousand years. lts roots were fourfold. The Byzantine Empire grew under the influence of earlier Anatolian civilizations; structures and
Aqueduct of Valens : Early 5th century. Part of the Roman water supply system for Istanbul.
codes adopted from the East; its inheritance from the Roman Empire; and most important of all the influence of Christianity. ln the first half of the 5th century, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II, the boundaries of the city were enlarged again, and the 6492 meter-long city walls that still stand today in all their magnificence were built. These walls that were constructed as two parallel lines of fortifications with a deep moat on the outside are known to have stopped numerous attacks.
In the 6th century, the city and its population of more than half a million enjoyed another golden age of prosperity and progress under Emperor Justinian.
The Church of Haghia Sophia, Byzantium's most imposing place of worship that still stands today, was built during this emperor's reign, and the city was restructured around it with all the major avenues starting at the Church and running towards the city walls, branching into two at some of the important squares.
The history of the Byzantine Empire and that of the city of Istanbul after Justinian is filled with palace and church intrigue, Persian and Arabic attacks and bloody power struggles that often resulted in the replacement of dynasties. During the Iconoclastic movement between the years 726 and 842, the use of icons was denounced.
The latin invasion of the city that began in 1204 in the course of the Fourth Crusade is a dismal chapter in the history of Istanbul. The strong and battle-ready crusader army had little problem in conquering the city and immediately began robbing it of its treasures. |
|
|
The looting went on for many years and was extended even to such holy places as churches and monasteries. When the invasion ended in 1261, the city was stripped of everything valuable and could never become the prosperous city it once was, up until its siege and eventual conquest by the Ottomans in 1453.
The superior guns of large caliber used for the first time in history by Sultan Mehmet II (later to be called Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror) during the siege that lasted for 53 days. The twenty-one year old conqueror immediately moved the capital of the Ottoman Empire to Istanbul, and after increasing the population by moving in immigrants from the other parts of the empire, launched a campaign to repair and restore the city. In the meantime, he granted freedom of religion and other rights to the non-Moslems of the city. Some of the desolate churches including the Haghia Sophia were repaired an converted to mosques.
It is a consequence of the rights granted to non-Moslems by Mehmet the Conqueror that the Patriarchate of the Christian Orthodox Church is still in Istanbul and that a large non-Moslem population still lives in the city and elsewhere in the country.
After the Turkish takeover of Istanbul, the city once again became a major city of the East, and by the end of the hundred years following the conquest, the unmistakable lines of Turkish art had become prevalent in the city, and the elegant silhouettes of minarets an domes dominated the skyline.
The Ottoman Empire that developed from a small Turkish tribe into a powerful international hegemony controlling parts of Europe, Asia and Africa had Istanbul as its capital through the remainder of its existence.
Furthermore, after the Ottoman Sultans assumed the title and powers of the Caliph (Successor to the Prophet Mohammed) the city of Istanbul was regarded as the capital of the Islamic World.
Ataturk (1881 - 1938): National hero and founder of Turkish Republic.
Throughout the reigns of various Sultans succeeding Mehmet the Conqueror, the efforts to improve Istanbul continued. In the colourful pages of the history of Istanbul covering that period there is no record of any war in or near the city. However, there is frequent record of great fires that destroyed large sections of the city.
|
<< |
1 |
2 |
3 |
 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
>> |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
