From Byzantium to Constantinople

The history begins in 660 BC, when Greek settlers from Megara founded the colony of Byzantion at the southern tip of the Golden Horn. The strategic location — at the strait between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, between Europe and Asia — made the city a coveted prize for every world power.

Constantinople — The New Rome

In 330 AD, Emperor Constantine the Great chose the city as the new capital of the Roman Empire and named it Constantinople. He converted temples into churches, built monumental forums and aqueducts, and brought art treasures from across the empire here. Constantinople became the largest and richest city in the world:

• 537: Emperor Justinian I completed the Hagia Sophia — the largest church in Christendom for almost 1,000 years. "Solomon, I have surpassed you," he is said to have declared at its inauguration.
• 5th–13th century: Constantinople was the center of the Christian world with a population of up to 500,000 — while Rome had shrunk to 50,000.
• 1204: The Crusaders of the 4th Crusade plundered Constantinople — not the Muslims, but their own fellow believers devastated the city. A betrayal never forgotten.